We often remark that we live in extraordinary times. While true, it obscures the fact that certain days have had an outsized impact on the course of our world. One of those days was September 11, 2001.
Most of the students on our campuses were born after September 11. Thankfully the 9/11 Day Foundation is keeping the memory of that day alive by making September 11 the largest day of service in this country. The Foundation awards grants in conjunction with AmeriCorps to fund service projects taking place throughout the month of September.
Seed Coalition was grateful to share a $35,000 9/11 Day Grant with our Alliance partners Transform Mid-Atlantic and Partners for Campus-Community Engagement. We solicited interest from member campuses, and five received grants that totaled more than $11,000. Those campuses used their grants to support service projects and fairs that engaged over 1,200 student and community volunteers.
Below are stories from each of Seed Coalition’s five 9/11 Day mini grant projects:
- St. Olaf College supported their third annual Service Saturday event, the final activity of New Student Orientation. Karin Bartlett, volunteer coordinator for the Hispanic Heritage Month event at the Northfield Public Library, shared, “I cannot express enough gratitude for the amazing student volunteers who helped with the 2025 Hispanic Heritage Celebration. They were kind, energetic, and so willing to help out.
- Simpson College partnered with Meals from the Heartland to host a campus-wide meal packaging event, bringing together students, faculty, staff, and community members in a shared effort to fight hunger locally and globally.
- Normandale aimed to honor those affected by the events of 9/11 through acts of service and kindness while building community. Hellen, a pre-service nursing student and event organizer offered this reflection of Normandale’s project to pack snack bags for a community cupboard: “One moment that sticks with me is when a first-year student dropped by just to see what was happening, and ended up staying the entire time. Afterward, she said, ‘I didn’t think I belonged anywhere yet… but today, I did.’
- The University of Minnesota Duluth partnered with Project Joy, a local nonprofit focused on addressing childhood hunger in the Twin Ports, to pack meal bags for young people experiencing food insecurity. They held the service project in conjunction with their annual service fair.
- Morningside University’s Omicron Delta Kappa circle supported their 19th annual Into the Streets campuswide volunteering event, which engaged more than 800 students and 75 partner organizations with activities that included organizing donations, moving boxes, landscaping, cleaning, cooking, spending time with senior residents, and reading with young students.
We are grateful for the work of our member campus partners who put so many hours into leading these events. Special thanks to Leslie Werden at Morningside University, Alyssa Melby at St. Olaf College, Cheryl Skafte at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Tayler Keitzer at Simpson College, and Melinda Xiong at Normandale Community College.
Seed Coalition and our partners at the Alliance plan to pursue another 9/11 grant in 2026 and look forward to bringing those funds to more member campuses. Reach out to our staff if you have interest in receiving a grant next year.
