NEW YORK (MODR) – September 11th, 2001, is not a date that Denny and Jenny Quinn will soon forget. Even though it’s been 25 years since terrorists hijacked two planes and flew them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, they can still recall traveling to New York City with Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief (MODR) to assist in the recovery efforts.
“The Salvation Army had set up a tent about a block away from Ground Zero, right in the middle of the street, and we worked with them to prepare meals for all the volunteers, Including the firemen, police and first responders,” Jenny explained. “The Salvation Army paid for the food, and we prepared it and helped serve it.”
In the meantime, Denny Quinn found his own way of helping.
“The electricians who were restoring downed electricity found out that Denny was an electrician member of IBEW Local #1, in St. Louis,” Jenny explained, “They were surprised and honored that he cared to help and took him three floors under the pit to show him the broken communication wires. As a result, Denny was also able to invite them to come for a warm meal with Missouri Baptist DR.”
Chris Landwher was also responded with the Quinns and helped in the food tent. She said one of the best things about the disaster response was that they were allowed to share Jesus whenever the opportunity presented itself. For Landwher it was sharing with an employee of the Port Authority at 3:00 in the morning when she was the only one in the tent. She recalled that the young man was particularly depressed because he was in a position where his two superiors had been killed in the tower collapse.
“I never saw him again, but I still think of him,” she related.
However, Gary Morrow, who was serving as the MODR state director at the time, explained that food preparation wasn’t the only thing Missouri disaster relief volunteers did to assist.
“We probably had at least 100 volunteers go to New York over the course of several weeks,” he said. “We were sending an average of 10 to 15 volunteers per week just from Missouri. In addition to food preparation, we had volunteers that helped clean ash and dust out of apartments in the surrounding area. We also had volunteers who sat next to a conveyor belt that carried debris away from the disaster site. Their job was basically to look for jewelry, valuables and even bone fragments as the material went by on the conveyor belt.”
Chris Landwher and the Quinns along with a few others, however, felt God calling them to make a second trip to New York. So, on December 31st … New Year’s Eve … they all made a trip back to the Big Apple to provide additional help. A few things were different this time, though.
NEW YORK – Missouri Disaster Relief workers serve at a food station in New York in the aftermath of 9/11. (MODR photo)
“We found out that the restaurants in the area were getting upset with us,” Jenny said. They not only lost customers who died in the towers, but we were passing out free food, which meant they were not getting enough business to keep going. Fortunately, before we got there the second time, they had evidently contracted with the different restaurants, and they pretty much catered in the food. However, we made sure it was warned and up to temperature, we served it and cleaned up afterward. So, you could say we were actually working with the restaurant owners.”
Chris Landwher explained that on her second trip to New York she was accompanied by her son Daniel who was able to work beside her on food preparation several times. He even decided after the trip that he wanted to be a chef as a career. Ironically, two others decided after their stint as a volunteer that they wanted to major in some facet of disaster response and emergency management. Another young man later became a fireman and paramedic.
“During my second trip to New York, I also helped clean an apartment on the 17th floor of a building,” Chris added. “So, we got to look down on Ground Zero and what they called the pit. The walls of the building itself had been removed, leaving the hole below ground. That was interesting.”
On the other hand, Jenny Quinn recalled that it was eerily quiet much of time, even though there was so much heavy equipment operating. She said that it was even quieter when a fire engine came driving up out of the pit, because everyone knew that they had found another body.
“If you ask my parents’ generation what event changed their life the most, they probably will answer the attack on Pearl Harbor, Jenny concluded. “For my generation, it was probably 911, because it changed so many things in our lives and was one event that we will never forget.”
Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief helps churches transform lives and communities with the gospel by bringing help, hope, and healing. To learn more, go to modr.org.
MODR volunteers shared photos from their time serving in New York in the aftermath of 9/11. (Photos are courtesy of Missouri Disaster Relief volunteers Jenny Quinn and Chris Landwher.) Take a look at them here:
Dining and Cooking