The National Football League and the NFL Players Association will contribute $1 million to three memorials and two charities related to the events of September 11, 2001, it was announced Tuesday.
The first Sunday of the NFL regular season falls on the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001.
The NFL and NFLPA will contribute $500,000 to the 9/11 Museum & Memorial in Lower Manhattan, and $250,000 to be divided between the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa., and the Pentagon Memorial Fund in Washington, D.C.
In addition, the NFL and NFLPA will donate all proceeds from the sale of auction items from games played on Sunday, Sept. 11. These items, which fans can bid on at www.NFL.com/Auction, will include game-worn autographed player jerseys, coaches and player hats, and commemorative game coins used during those games.
NFL Auction proceeds will be divided equally between Tuesday's Children and MyGoodDeed. Tuesday's Children is a leading organization providing support and services to those who lost a loved one on 9/11, as well as to rescue and recovery workers who responded to the events. As the principle organizer of the September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance, MyGoodDeed is providing a positive, forward-looking way for Americans to honor and remember 9/11 victims, survivors, and first-responders.
NFL Auction proceeds from Sept. 11, 2011 are expected to total at least $250,000. Including the $750,000 in charitable donations to the national 9/11 memorials, total NFL-NFLPA donations will reach $1 million.
The NFL-NFLPA contributions complement donations made to the 9/11 Museum and Memorial by the New York Giants through the Tisch Family Foundation and the New York Jets.
About the Flight 93 Memorial
On Sept. 24, 2002, President Bush signed into law the Flight 93 National Memorial Act. The Act created a new national park unit to commemorate the passengers and crew of Flight 93 who, on September 11, 2001, courageously gave their lives thereby thwarting a planned attack on our nation's capital. The memorial is near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed with the loss of its 40 passengers and crew. For more information about the Flight 93 National Memorial, please visit www.nps.gov/flni. For information on how to make a donation and help build the memorial, go to www.honorflight93.org.
About the Pentagon Memorial
The Pentagon Memorial Fund is a non-profit organization established by the families of the 184 victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in Washington, DC. The Memorial Fund's mission is to provide education resources concerning the Pentagon Memorial and the events of September 11, 2001, as well as raising funds to preserve the Memorial for future generations. The Pentagon Memorial is a 2-acre park adjacent to the Pentagon that provides a place for reflection, remembrance and renewal. For more information about the Pentagon Memorial, please visit www.pentagonmemorial.org.
About the 9/11 Memorial and Museum
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum is the not-for-profit corporation created to oversee the design, raise the funds, and program and operate the Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center site. The Memorial and Museum will be located on eight of the 16 acres of the site. The Memorial will be dedicated on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and will open to the public the following day. The Museum will open in 2012.
The Memorial will remember and honor the nearly 3,000 people who died in the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993. The design, created by Michael Arad and Peter Walker, consists of two pools formed in the footprints of the original Twin Towers and a plaza of trees.
The Museum will display monumental artifacts linked to the events of 9/11, while presenting intimate stories of loss, compassion, reckoning and recovery that are central to telling the story of the 2001 attacks and the aftermath. It will communicate key messages that embrace both the specificity and the universal implications of the events of 9/11; document the impact of those events on individual lives, as well as on local, national, and international communities; and explore the continuing significance of these events for our global community.
When the Memorial opens, construction will continue on the other World Trade Center projects and free visitor passes will be temporarily required. To plan a visit to the Memorial or learn how to contribute, go to www.911memorial.org. Follow the Memorial & Museum on Twitter: @sept11memorial. For more information, contact: Michael Frazier/Sarah Lippman at 212-312-8800.
About Tuesday's Children
Tuesday's Children is a non-profit family service organization that has made a long term commitment to every individual impacted by the events of September 11, 2001 and more recently those who have been impacted by terrorist incidents worldwide. Since 2001, Tuesday's Children has promoted healing and recovery by strengthening family resilience, providing individual coping and life management skills and creating community through programs, mental health support and family engagement opportunities. For more information, please visit www.tuesdayschildren.org or call 516-562-9000.
About MyGoodDeed, Inc.
MyGoodDeed is the respected 9/11 nonprofit that worked to formally establish September 11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance under federal law. For the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 MyGoodDeed is working closely with HandsOn Network, and many other prominent groups to organize the single largest day of charitable service in tribute to the 9/11 victims and survivors, and all those that rose in service in response to the attacks. The group's hopeful mission is to provide a positive and forward-looking way for Americans and others to forever honor and remember the 9/11 victims, survivors, and the many that rose in service in response to the 9/11 tragedy. It is easy and free to participate. Simply observe the anniversary of 9/11 by performing good deeds, supporting charitable causes, volunteering and engaging in other acts of compassion. To post your plans for 9/11 visit 911day.org or Facebook.com/911day. For more information, email MyGoodDeed at: info@911day.org.