HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — On September 11, 2009, Americans will mark the “
National Day of Service and Remembrance,” a program inspired by Hofstra Law Alumnus Glenn J. Winuk ‘87, who lost his life in the line of duty on 9/11 while serving as a firefighter and an emergency medical technician (EMT).
Glenn Winuk, a native of Jericho, New York, was a decorated volunteer firefighter and EMT who worked as a partner at Holland & Knight in the law firm’s downtown Manhattan office. On September 11, 2001, Glenn was killed while participating in the rescue effort at the World Trade Center, just a block and half from his law office. He perished when the South Tower collapsed. Glenn was 40 years old.
In honor of his brother Glenn,
Jay Winuk co-founded
MyGoodDeed, a nonprofit that led the effort to establish the National Day of Service and Remembrance, which President Barack Obama signed into law on April 21, 2009, by way of The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. The Act, for the first time included federal authorization to establish September 11 as an annually recognized National Day of Service and Remembrance
The mission of the initiative is to honor the victims of 9/11 and those who rose to service in response to the attacks by encouraging all Americans and others throughout the world to pledge to voluntarily perform at least one good deed or another service activity on 9/11 each year. To date, countless people from all 50 states and more than 170 nations and territories have participated.
Winuk and fellow organizers recently unveiled a new Web site
http://911dayofservice.org that allows individuals and groups to sign up for volunteer activities throughout the country and to blog about their experiences.
Winuk co-founded MyGoodDeed with David Paine, son of the former Dean of the Hofstra Law
Eric J. Schmertz. At Hofstra Law and with the generous support of Glenn’s colleagues at the Holland & Knight Charitable Foundation, the Winuk family established the
Glenn J. Winuk Endowed Memorial Scholarship, given to students that demonstrate an established record of community service, with preference given to children and spouses of 9/11 victims.
