A few lucky kids learned what it’s like to be one of New York City’s heroes during an annual tradition.
Some children of first responders were able to experience what life is like at a Queens Village firehouse on Thursday as part of Take Our Children to Work Day.
“I think firemen are cool. It’s because my dad was one, too, and like, he told me all about them,” said 8-year-old Raymond Tomins.
The event was organized by Tuesday’s Children, a nonprofit formed after September 11th to support children who may have lost a parent in the terrorist attacks.
In addition to the children of first responders, the children of military members were also invited to attend.
“It allows for a sort of togetherness and closeness, all of us sharing that common bond,” said Robert Pycior, a former Tuesday’s Children participant.
Participants were able to try on the firemen’s gear, spray a fire hose and learn how to use tools to lift a car in an emergency.
Children at Queens Firehouse
https://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-UPDATED-LOGO.svg00Jen Henriquezhttps://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-UPDATED-LOGO.svgJen Henriquez2016-04-29 16:05:582021-06-29 14:09:08Children Visit Queens Firehouse For Take Our Children To Work Day
The FDNY hosted a very special day for some of the children whose parents died on September 11, 2001.
“Nice and easy, push hard,” a firefighter said.
The kids learned how to lift cars into the air and pry doors open during a fire.
“When I say hit, you hit,” the firefighter said.
Take your child to work day was extra special for a few lucky kids.
“I’ve never been a real fire house before and I got to learn about how the fire trucks work,” said Angio Baytos, a participant.
The experience is thanks to “Tuesday’s Children“, an organization supporting kids affected by 9/11, those who lost a loved one in the military, or on the job as a first responder.
Even on what turned out to be a busy day for the fire house in Queens Village, firefighters took their time showing the young ones the ropes.
“They literally just got in and now they’re leaving again,” a child said.
“They have to go out a lot it seems, because they’ve gone out like four times already since we’ve been here, and we’ve only been here like two hours,” another child said.
“I got to slide down the pole,” another participant said.
They even got to get geared up from head to toe.
“I feel like there’s something really heavy on me, also like something holding me on my leg trying to get me,” another child said.
“The fire department does a great job and when these kids come every year, it’s nice to show them what it’s all about, teach them things and give them advice they can use, and maybe talk a few of them into joining the fire department,” said Keith Baccari, FDNY.
“I’ll keep being a firefighter in mind,” a child said.
“I might be a gamer or a fireman, we’ll talk,” another said.
ABC at TOCTWD FDNY
https://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-UPDATED-LOGO.svg00Jen Henriquezhttps://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-UPDATED-LOGO.svgJen Henriquez2016-04-29 16:03:592021-06-29 14:09:089/11 victims’ children spend ‘take your child to work day’ with the FDNY
RIDGEWOOD – When Joseph Palombo laces up his running shoes for the United Airlines NYC Half-Marathon on Sunday, he will be participating in his first competitive race.
Joseph Palombo, left, with his brother, Thomas, at the Generosity 5K event, where they both ran for Tuesday’s Children. Joseph is running in the United Airlines NYC Half-Marathon on Sunday.
“I actually never ran too extensively in my life,” the Ridgewood resident admitted. “I’ve always played sports, but I never picked up running as a hobby.”
His decision to run 13.1 miles from Central Park to Wall Street has meaning. Palombo is a junior board member with Tuesday’s Children, a non-profit serving families who suffered loss on Sept. 11, 2001, first responders and, more recently, victims of violence and terrorism nationally and internationally. With every mile he runs, he will raise funds and awareness for the organization.
However, Palombo is one of those fateful Tuesday’s children.
“Being somebody whose father died on Sept. 11, my family and I have been helped by a lot of these organizations,” said Palombo, “where they really look out for and support and care for the families who lost a loved one that day.”
Palombo was just 12 years old when he lost his father, Frank, a firefighter who served more than 20 years with FDNY Ladder Co. 105 in Brooklyn. The now 27-year-old plans to run in the memory of the man he described as a “very caring, loving” guy and father.
“He was always happy to play with us,” said Palombo, who is the third of 10 children born to Frank and Jean Palombo. “I remember playing football in the park, and him coming to my hockey games and always giving me advice.
“It’s not that he only gave his life on Sept. 11,” he added. “I think he gave his life for people around him every day of his life.”
His father’s selflessness and devotion to others reverberates through Palombo as he uses his spare time from his job as an accountant to volunteer with Tuesday’s Children.
“I got involved in October or November because I’ve always known people involved in it,” shared Palombo. “I’ve been to a couple events, but a good friend of mine, who’s also on the junior board, invited me to go [to an event] for new members and I went. I loved it.”
Tuesday’s Children, located at Rockefeller Center, was formed in the aftermath of 9/11 in 2001. Since its inception, the recovery and response organization has expanded to accommodate international families and communities impacted by terrorism and traumatic loss. One of Palombo’s favorite programs is Project COMMON BOND, which was launched in 2008 to meet those needs.
“It takes people from many different countries who have been affected by terrorist attacks and it brings them all together,” said Palombo. “They have a camp together.”
The camp focuses on global leadership activities in which participants acquire peace-building and negotiation skills, as well as collaboration in music, drama, movement and sports.
“The kids who I’ve met at COMMON BOND come together and talk to each other,” said Palombo. “And they can relate to each other on a level that maybe you can’t relate to certain kids from school because they haven’t experienced what you’ve experienced.”
And Palombo understands how important it is to find kinship with others who lost a parent that day, and not just a perished 9/11 hero.
“I guess for me, my dad was always a hero before he died,” he explained. “That’s how a lot of the kids feel.”
To Palombo, seeing his 46-year-old father on the morning of 9/11 was just like any other day in their Brooklyn household. Even when his mother picked him and his siblings up at school, and said, “There was a terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, and your dad was there,” it didn’t occur to him that his father could die.
“In my mind, nothing’s going to happen to him,” recalled Palombo. “He’s probably just saving people.”
He was not fazed until his family members and neighbors were coming over his house, stricken with worry. He went to bed that night, but awoke the next morning to hear his mother tell him that “they haven’t found him yet and nobody knows where he is.”
“There was still that uncertainty I guess for a couple days,” said Palombo. “Nobody knew if he was coming home or not, or if he was just helping people to the hospital. It was such a crazy time, but I think it really hit me the next morning, after Sept. 12, that my dad’s not coming home.”
The Palombos found solace in their family, who stayed with them at the house for an entire week.
“They were feeding us, they were taking care of us and really showed me how much people loved my mom and my dad,” he said.
His father’s colleagues would also drop by regularly, cooking the family dinner and bringing over the fire truck so the kids could play on it. The constant support they received was comforting, he said.
“I knew life goes on,” said Palombo. “It was a new normal. It was always going to be different, but I still feel my dad’s presence in my life.”
The family relocated to Ridgewood in 2006, but tragedy hit once again when Jean passed away from cancer a couple years ago. Palombo continues to put one foot forward, bearing the kind of resilience Tuesday’s Children looks to impart to families with its programs. And he is more than willing to help with that.
“I try to go to as many events as I could possibly go to,” said Palombo, already having served as a mentor to kids who need help with their resumes and finding jobs at Tuesday’s Children’s LinkedIn workshops.
He is also looking ahead at future events like Kentucky Derby Day and Rise Up Downtown, a commemorative gala held during the weekend of 9/11 in downtown New York to benefit Tuesday’s Children. But on his plate right now is getting through his first half-marathon, which he will be running with three other Tuesday’s Children endurance team members. He hopes his family will be there early in the morning, cheering him on.
“I’m going to try to get them to wake up,” he said with a laugh. “They’re heavy sleepers.”
Taking after his father, Palombo has never been a big runner. But his desire to raise funds for Tuesday’s Children — Team Tuesday’s has raised $900,000 in endurance fundraising since it was founded — has made him sign up for the Berlin Marathon in September. It’s his way of giving back to organizations that helped him cope and “become who I am today,” he said.
“It’s something that I think I benefitted from,” said Palombo. “And I’m happy to, at this point in my life, let people receive what I’ve received.”
His parents would certainly be proud.
Email: oliveira@northjersey.com
https://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-UPDATED-LOGO.svg00Jen Henriquezhttps://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-UPDATED-LOGO.svgJen Henriquez2016-03-18 17:37:192021-06-29 14:09:09Ridgewood resident to run half-marathon in dad’s memory
Using paint therapy, cooking classes and intimate conversations, members of Project Heart to Heart are able to help each other cope with unspeakable loss.
The program is run by the nonprofit organization Tuesday’s Children, which provides support for military widows and widows of Sept. 11 victims.
Orange Park resident Shannon Thorp recently joined the group.
Thorp’s husband, Army Spc. Trent Thorp, was a father of two and had served in Afghanistan before returning to the U.S. where he was stationed in Washington state.
Thorp was killed in a shooting with police in 2011.
“He was an exceptional soldier,” Thorp said. “A great father. Great husband.”
Thorp said Tuesday’s Children has given her new hope to keep moving forward.
“It’s a very small group of people that we know don’t cast any judgment,” Thorp said. “They relate unconsciously.”
Thorp said the greatest benefit for her has been learning from women who have been coping with their grief for a much longer period of time – women like Andrea Garbarini.
“We have supported each other through the years and I really don’t know how I would have done it without them,” Garbarini said.
Garbarini’s husband, New York Fire Department Lt. Charles Garbarini, was a first responder with Engine 23 in Manhattan on Sept. 11.
Garbarini didn’t survive.
“They ran towards what everybody was running away from,” Garbarini said.
“You can see hope,” Thorp said. “You’re going to turn out OK and their kids are great. The kids are wonderful.”
Tuesday’s Children also provides Project Common Bond, which gives support to children who have lost parents.
“My son Phillip has participated for the last three years, and what it does is it brings together children from all around the world that are victims of terrorism,” Garbarini said.
Project Common Bond was initiated by children of Sept. 11 victims.
“They came to us and said we want to talk to others in the world who have been impacted by the same thing as us,” Director of Programs for Tuesday’s Children Diana DeClemente said.
https://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-UPDATED-LOGO.svg00Jen Henriquezhttps://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-UPDATED-LOGO.svgJen Henriquez2016-02-03 15:23:032021-06-29 14:09:09Local group of military, Sept. 11 widows use painting to cope with loss
They were children that Tuesday when the world changed.
Jessica Murphy was 5 years old on Sept. 11, 2001, a kindergartner at P.S. 183 on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Rob Pycior was 8 and at home with his mother in Landover, Md., when the phone rang that day. Pycior’s father, stationed at the Pentagon, told them to turn on the TV, and they watched as the second airplane hit the World Trade Center.
As the nation grieved the terrorist attacks, Murphy and Pycior suffered a personal tragedy. Murphy’s father died in the North Tower at his Cantor Fitzgerald office. Pycior’s father died in the Pentagon’s Navy Command Center.
Now young adults, Murphy and Pycior still bear the emotional toll of the deaths of their fathers. But they are working to help combat terrorism by promoting peace.
Murphy and Pycior met up in the Washington area this week to participate in a program at George Mason University designed for the children of Sept. 11 victims, helping them push for worldwide peace efforts.
Casey Hargrave, 21, who was 6 when her father was killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, participates in a peace-building and conflict-resolution workshop in Arlington. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post)
The four-day seminar and leadership program is part of Project Common Bond, which brings together teens and young adults who share the experience of losing a family member because of “an act of terrorism, violent extremism or war.”
At George Mason, Murphy and Pycior joined six others personally affected by Sept. 11 and met with professors and experts in conflict negotiations to discuss healing, community building and other techniques that can aid collaboration and the peaceful end of conflict.
“They obviously have a unique story to tell as victims of terrorism and violence extremism, and their points of view are those that the world needs to hear,” said Deirdre Dolan, a program manager for Tuesday’s Children, a nonprofit group that runs the Project Common Bond seminars. “By giving them these skills in conflict resolution, we’re helping them to go out into the world as peace builders and counter the narrative of violent terrorism.”
Pycior said that the program is beneficial for young people like him who share the common bond of having lost family in the terrorist attacks. Pycior wears a bracelet inscribed with his father’s name, a daily reminder of what he lost.
“It’s just a deep connection that is near instantaneous,” said Pycior, 22, who is studying social work in graduate school at Rutgers University. “With 9/11, it’s ‘Never forget.’ That moniker has stayed with me and other surviving families of 9/11.”
At George Mason, Pycior said that each of the eight young people in the room taking part in a peace-building exercise are tied to history. Murphy said that participating in events such as Project Common Bond offers her the opportunity to meet others who share her experience.
Jessica Murphy, 19, who was 5 when her father was killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, participates in a workshop at George Mason University. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post)
“I’ve known from a young age that bad things can happen,” said Murphy, 19, a freshman at Brown University. “September 11th was a traumatic day and the whole country was traumatized by it, but having a personal experience in the national grief made it deeper.”
Casey Hargrave, who was 6 at the time, said she remembers her mother pulling her close and telling her that her father was not coming home from his office that day. Her father also worked at Cantor Fitzgerald, a firm that lost 658 employees at the World Trade Center.
Touched personally by terrorism, Hargrave, a junior at George Washington University, hopes one day to combat it as a diplomat with the State Department or at the National Counterterrorism Center. She has studied Sharia law, the history of the Middle East and has taken Arabic classes in college, all in an effort to get a better understanding of what breeds terrorist actions. Hargrave said that learning conflict resolution skills will play a crucial role in her future.
“I think that the first step is you have to secure it and make the world a safer place before you can sit down and talk things out,” said Hargrave, 21. “But if you bring up a whole generation of kids who know these skills, who know how to talk it out before fighting to resolve conflicts, it’s going to change it.”
00Jen Henriquezhttps://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-UPDATED-LOGO.svgJen Henriquez2016-01-11 14:31:282021-06-29 14:09:09For Young Adults Who Lost Parents on Sept. 11, a Hope for Peace
When tragedy strikes, as parents you find yourself doubly challenged: to process your own feelings of grief and distress, and to help your children do the same.
I wish I could tell you how to spare your children pain, when they’ve lost friends or family members, and fear, when disturbing events occur, especially when they’re close to home. I can’t do that, but what I can do is share what I’ve learned about how to help children process disturbing events in the healthiest way.
As a parent, you can’t protect you children from grief, but you can help them express their feelings, comfort them, and help them feel safer. By allowing and encouraging them to express their feelings, you can help them build healthy coping skills that will serve them well in the future, and confidence that they can overcome adversity.
Break the news. When something happens that will get wide coverage, my first and most important suggestion is that you don’t delay telling your children about what’s happened: It’s much better for the child if you’re the one who tells her. You don’t want her to hear from some other child, a television news report, or the headlines on the front page of the New York Post. You want to be able to convey the facts, however painful, and set the emotional tone.
Take your cues from your child. Invite her to tell you anything she may have heard about the tragedy, and how she feels. Give her ample opportunity to ask questions. You want to be prepared to answer (but not prompt) questions about upsetting details. Your goal is to avoid encouraging frightening fantasies.
Model calm. It’s okay to let your child know if you’re sad, but if you talk to your child about a traumatic experience in a highly emotional way, then he will likely absorb your emotion and very little else. If, on the other hand, you remain calm, he is likely to grasp what’s important: that tragic events can upset our lives, even deeply, but we can learn from bad experiences and work together to grow stronger.
Be reassuring. Talking about death is always difficult, but a tragic accident or act of violence is especially tough because of how egocentric children are: they’re likely to focus on whether something like this could happen to them. So it’s important to reassure your child about how unusual this kind of event is, and the safety measures that have been taken to prevent this kind of thing from happening to them. You can also assure him that this kind of tragedy is investigated carefully, to identify causes and help prevent it from happening again. It’s confidence-building for kids to know that we learn from negative experiences.
Help children express their feelings. In your conversation (and subsequent ones) you can suggest ways your child might remember those she’s lost: draw pictures or tell stories about things you did together. If you’re religious, going to church or synagogue could be valuable.
Be developmentally appropriate. Don’t volunteer too much information, as this may be overwhelming. Instead, try to answer your child’s questions. Do your best to answer honestly and clearly. It’s okay if you can’t answer everything; being available to your child is what matters. Difficult conversations like this aren’t over in one session; expect to return to the topic as many times as your child needs to come to terms with this experience.
Be available. If your child is upset, just spending time with him may make him feel safer. Children find great comfort in routines, and doing ordinary things together as a family may be the most effective form of healing.
Memorialize those who have been lost. Drawing pictures, planting a tree, sharing stories, or releasing balloons can all be good, positive ways to help provide closure to a child. It’s important to assure your child that a person continues to live on in the hearts and minds of others. Doing something to help others in need can be very therapeutic: it can help children not only feel good about themselves but learn a very healthy way to respond to grief.
https://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-UPDATED-LOGO.svg00Jen Henriquezhttps://www.tuesdayschildren.org/wp-content/uploads/TC-UPDATED-LOGO.svgJen Henriquez2015-07-31 21:36:152021-06-29 14:09:10Helping Children Cope With Frightening News
