Vice President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden surprised and delighted volunteers Saturday when they visited one of our 9/11 volunteer projects.  The Vice President and Dr. Biden greeted and thanked volunteers, then rolled up their sleeves to help.

The Vice President and Dr. Biden joined 100 volunteers at PS140, the Nathan Straus School, on the Lower East Side. The group painted playground murals and line games, and made care packages for troops overseas.

The 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance, signed into law last year as part of the Serve America Act, encourages people to support charitable causes, perform good deeds, or engage in other service in observance of the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. We’ve run projects in partnership with MyGoodDeed, the organization behind making 9/11 a day of service, for the last 6 years.

Also participating were Jordin Sparks, American Idol winner and current star of the Broadway musical In The Heights;  Susan Stern, Chair of the New York State Commission on National & Community Service; and Diahann Billings-Burford, NYC’s Chief Service Officer.

Across town in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, 100 volunteers from Fidelity Investments and the local community revitalized MS 354, The School for Integrated Learning.  Congresswoman Yvette Clarke and NYC Chief Service Officer Diahann Billings-Burford thanked volunteers for their generous efforts.

Work included creating active play areas and building outdoor tables and seating space; redesigning the cafeteria with new painting and inspirational murals; creating a welcoming entry way in the auditorium by building and installing paneled canvas murals; and creating a customized school mural based on the quote “We can see far for we are standing on the shoulders of giants.”

The MS 354 Transformation Day was part of Fidelity Investments’ partnership with HandsOn Network to revitalize learning environments and support educational needs of 11 middle schools across the US.

Photos by Gary He and Colleen Farrell.