Climbing steps each year on Sept. 11 has become a way to honor the first responders who gave their lives following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Thursday marks 24 years since that infamous day, when New York City police and firefighters climbed stairs in the World Trade Center to rescue whoever they could before the twin towers fell. St. Joseph County Sheriff Department officers will honor their sacrifice Thursday, as they do each year, by climbing the football stadium steps from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
But you don’t have to be a first responder to take part. On Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the Notre Dame campus, Duncan Hall students have again organized an event they call One-Ten, named for the 110 floors in each World Trade Center tower.
Anyone who gives a $15 donation can climb the stadium’s steps. The event has grown each year, from raising $2,000 from 120 climbers in 2019 to raising $31,000 from over 1,300 participants last year. The students send the money to Heart 9/11, a New Jersey- and Florida-based nonprofit started by first responders to help people when natural disasters strike.
