Sept. 11, 2001, is a day that will live forever in the minds of those alive at the time. It’s one of those “where were you” questions that stays etched in our minds forever.
And yet, something good has come of it — a National Day of Service and Remembrance.
Aristotle once mused that the meaning of life is “to serve others and do good.” From the grandmother sewing baby blankets to the child who serves peanut butter sandwiches to our unsheltered friends, from Big Brothers and Big Sisters mentoring teens to teams building homes with Habitat for Humanity, Utah is home to some amazing volunteers.
In 2023, the most recent year I could find data for, more than 1.2 million Utahns volunteered through an organization, considered formal volunteering, while more than 1.7 million helped their neighbors informally, as highlighted in the latest Volunteering and Civic Life in America research.
According to UServe, highlights of the Utah data include that 98.3% of residents talked to or spent time with friends or family, 81.8% of residents had a conversation or spent time with their neighbors, 68.2% of residents informally helped others by exchanging favors with their neighbors, and 64.1% of residents donated $25 or more to charity.
So what kind of opportunities exist for this week’s National Day of Service and Remembrance? A plethora.
UServe is sponsoring a service project to benefit military members and their families by assembling comfort and activity kits for military children and writing letters to service members and their loved ones. That event will take place on Saturday, Sept. 13, from 9 - 11 a.m. at Bicentennial Park, 931 East 600 South, in Clearfield.
The Major Brent Taylor Foundation is partnering with Utah County this year for the 9/11 Project, which aims to “create a memorable and educational experience” at the Spanish Fork Fairgrounds beginning Wednesday, Sept. 10, and going through Saturday, Sept. 13.
BYU will be doing a stair climb in LaVell Edwards Stadium. Participants will climb 2,071 steps representing the 110 stories of the World Trade Center, paying tribute to the first responders who climbed those steps, sacrificing their lives to save others. The climb will be Thursday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m.
The Granite Education Foundation is hosting an event to assemble Student Weekend Kits for schools in the Granite School District. Their goal on this day of service is to assemble 7,000+ Student Weekend Meal Kits and 10,000+ snack kits. This event will take place on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, from 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the Granite Education Foundation Donation & Distribution Center in Murray. Registration is required.
Those are just a smattering of possibilities. Communities around the state are holding their own memorials and service projects, from Park City to St. George. Look up your local community for more information specific to where you live.
There are also many ideas available through JustServe.org, including community clean up, blood donation opportunities, daffodil planting, park clean up, hydrant painting, quilt making and many others.
Benefits of service
Volunteering — serving — can provide meaning and purpose in our lives that have broad-reaching effects.
Mental health benefits include lower rates of depression, increased feelings of connectedness and belonging, and decreased loneliness. Increased happiness and life satisfaction are common results from volunteering. Feeling like we are making a difference and are part of a bigger story than just our little corner gives meaning to our lives. Serving with others — especially others who may have a different life story from our own — helps to break down barriers of misunderstanding, fear and bias; strengthens our communities; and improves lives at the same time. It decreases the problem of contempt that is seemingly so prevalent in our world. As Utah First Lady Abby Cox is fond of saying, “It’s hard to hate someone up close.”
There are also physical benefits to serving others, including a longer life, a stronger immune system and lower blood pressure. An interesting 2012 study in the journal Health Psychology found that there was a caveat. People who volunteered regularly lived longer — but only if they were altruistic in their reasons. In other words, no benefit was seen for those who were volunteering to make themselves feel better, but there was a noted benefit for those who were trying to help others.
Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, psychologist and creator of the field of logotherapy, wrote the book “Man’s Search for Meaning.” He believed that “life is never made unbearable by circumstances but only by lack of meaning and purpose.” His work focused on the belief that a sense of meaning and purpose in one’s life is the primary, most powerful motivating and driving force in life.
“The meaning of life,” he said, “is to give life meaning.”