Students volunteer at Trade Center clean up site

By: Asra Jawaid / Staff Writer
This Spring Break, 17 FIU representatives, including 15 students, went to New York City to help clean up the mess left behind by the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11th.

The group was led by Site Leader Alex Zarut. Patty Temino, the assistant director of the Volunteer Action Center, also attended.

They left Miami on Saturday, March 16, arriving in New York the next day, and returned to Miami on Sunday, March 24.

Each day they were there, the group usually woke up by 5 a.m.

“We all had to be ready to leave [the hotel] by 5:50 a.m. or 6 a.m.,” Zarut said.
Other members of FIU’s group, such as junior Alex Corzo, had to work the graveyard shift, which went from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Working for the Salvation Army, the group provided a variety of services to other people assisting with the cleanup.

“We helped run the Salvation Army tent which provides a resting haven for the relief workers to go get a hot meal, read some letters sent from all over the world, sleep and get any materials they might need, such as gloves, medicine and socks,” Zarut said.

These weren’t the only activities. In addition to serving food, they sorted out letters kids were writing to wounded firefighters, picked up garbage, and kept an eye out for the tent and tried keeping unwrapped food from flying out of the tent due to the dust and debris.

Although they only worked with a few small groups of people from churches, Zarut said “from firefighters to police to city workders, there were hundreds and of people working at Ground Zero.”

Zarut said the workers recovered around 20 bodies in that week alone. After providing assistance at Ground Zero during the daytime, the group usually toured New York City at night.

They visited attractions such as Times Square, Canal Street, the Empire State Building, Central Park.

“We even got to go to Battery Park where they have a sculpture that was inside the towers that was not completely destroyed by the collapse of the towers,” said Corzo.

The trip cost a total of $95.00 for each participant, plus a little extra money for transportation from New Jersey to New York City.

For many of the participants, this was their first time participating in an Alternative Spring Break trip. Alex Corzo was one such member of the group and seemed to throroughly enjoy the experience.

“I enjoyed this program because I got to give back to my country in the most predominant way I could, being where it happened,” Corzo said. “I know you can give monetary donations and goods, such as food, water, etc., but the act of giving my time and spring break gave me a chance to realize how great and strong this country really is. I’m certainly never going to forget this life changing experience.”