East Lansing Fire Department firefighter and paramedic Nicole Kitson was one of two runners selected by the Michigan Remembers 9-11 Fund to participate in the Tunnel to Towers 5K in New York City.(Photo: RJ Wolcott / Lansing State Journal)
EAST LANSING — When Nicole Kitson started working as a firefighter in 2007, she learned that each day on the job had the potential to end in sacrifice.
Later this month, she’ll run alongside fellow emergency responders to honor those who gave their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.
Kitson is one of two Michigan runners selected by the Michigan Remembers 9-11 Fund to take part in the Tunnel to Tower 5K Run and Walk. The race will be held in New York City on Sept. 27.
Working as an emergency responder wasn’t what Kitson originally envisioned for herself, she said.
After graduating from Davenport University with a business degree, she worked for a year before realize she wasn’t content.
Two local firefighters will re-trace the route a New York City firefighter took on 9/11 as he ran from a traffic-clogged tunnel to the World Trade Center.
Tim Grant of the Williamston Fire Department and Tiffany Dickerson of the Lansing Fire Department were nominated to take part in Sunday’s Tunnel to Towers 5K in New York City. More than 25,000 people are expected to participate.
The event honors the memory of firefighter Stephen Siller, who was on his way home the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 when word came of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
With his vehicle stuck in traffic, Siller ran the three miles from the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the World Trade Center with 60 pounds of equipment strapped to his back. Siller was one of nearly 400 emergency services personnel to die that day.
“To be making the same run he ran that morning, it gives you chills,” Grant said. “At the end of this race, I get to go home. He didn’t get to go home, and I’ll be thinking about that.”
EAST LANSING – The Michigan Remembers 9-11 Fund has honored three winners of its 2014 scholarship essay contest for Michigan high school juniors and seniors.
The contest was established to encourage high school students to research and express their reflections on how the impacts of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks affected them, their family members or friends, their communities, or the nation as a whole.
Julia Muir, a senior from Williamston High School, won the first place scholarship of $500 for her essay “Remembering America’s Heroes.”
State Representative (and former Lansing Fire Chief) Tom Cochran discusses his work with the Michigan Remembers 9-11 Fund in an editorial for OkemosToday.com.
Read the full editorial here. (Archived link)
The Michigan Remembers 9-11 Fund will be hosting its Run to Remember 5K run/walk on September 6th to remember those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, including 19 with Michigan connections, and to honor and celebrate the brave men and women across Michigan who protect and serve our communities and nation on a daily basis. Funds raised by this race support our programming, which includes sending two first responders to represent Michigan at the Stephen Siller National Tunnel to Towers Run in New York City.
The Fund was recognized in Lansing State Journal’s nonprofit spotlight for June 8, 2014. Please see the link below for the full article.
LSJ Nonprofit Spotlight: Michigan Remembers 9-11 Fund
- Michigan Remembers 9-11 Fund Announces Winners of 2013 Scholarship Essay Contest
- Run to Remember 5k to Send Lansing First Responders to National Run in New York City
- MichiganRemembers.org Brings Attention to Michigan 9/11 Connections
- September 11th 5k to Send Local First Responders to National Run in New York City
- Lansing Township Police Officer to Run in NYC 5k
