Community members and veterans honor 9/11 with a Day of Service at Palmer Park
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., (KRDO) - This September 11th, veterans in the Colorado Springs area want to continue their mission to serve. The Guardians of Palmer Park are teaming up with military veteran non-profit organization "The Mission Continues" to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks with a day of service at Palmer Park.
Military veterans and community members will gather at Palmer Park on Saturday to conduct park maintenance, honoring the day by serving their community. The Mission Continues and Guardians of Palmer Park have hosted their "Beyond 9/11: Operation Enduring Service" for the past three years.
"So this year we are recognizing the 20th anniversary of 9/11 where veterans and community members can come together to do park beautification projects," said Tiffani Phillips, Platoon Leader for TMC Colorado Springs.
After joining the Air Force prior to the terrorist attacks in 2001, she was deployed to Iraq for about a year. She says she feels like the members in the service felt more united after such a horrific event.
"When I deployed, I felt really supported by the people back home and I still do," Phillips said. "I think that is something we have done as a nation that's been incredible: to make sure that veterans of this generation are appreciated for their service and that we continue to have organizations like The Mission Continues that help us integrate even after our service back into our community."
Phillips and her husband served in the military and were deployed to Afghanistan, now feel their best way to spend the day is by serving the community they live in.
"Sometimes we have a hard time when we transition out of the service really growing roots in our local community and really still finding that meaning and being part of something bigger than ourselves, The Mission Continues fills that gap and empowers us to be servants in our community," added Phillips.
The organizations will be giving back to the community by conducting maintenance at Palmer Park, one of the city's long-standing parks.
"We're going to have crews that are going to be doing trail work, crews working on illegal trails, people picking up trash, dog waste, and fire mitigation," said John Hawk, with the Guardians of Palmer Park. "Twenty years later as a nation, we need to come together and honor our veterans and unite and move forward."
The event starts at 8 a.m. and ends at 2:30 p.m.; anyone who would like to join on the day of service can head to their website. The event will take place at the Marvin J.Urban Youth Camp at Palmer Park.
