Dear Editor:
I applaud the 9/11 memorial efforts being made in Jersey City (Monument, memorial planned, Jersey City Reporter, July 28, 2002). I live across the river but we are dealing with the same questions, debates and slowdowns about what kind of memorials should be created. But while these discussions continue, the one year anniversary is approaching fast. I wanted something to be in place on September 11, 2002 to remember the people lost that day and to honor their families. Instead of waiting on The Official Memorial to happen, which could take years, why not have thousands of beautiful living memorials now? And not just at Ground Zero but everywhere.
That’s when I thought of sunflowers, which remind me of people in their height, individuality and beauty. This is how The Sunflower Project NYC was born. The Sunflower Project NYC is a grassroots collective of long-time Ground Zero volunteers who have banded together to create sunflower memorials throughout New York City to honor those lost on September 11th, their families and the people nationwide who contributed resources and heart to the recovery efforts. The Project’s goal is to plant over 3,000 sunflowers that will bloom by September 11, 2002 through the fall. We have planted nearly 4,000 seeds outside firehouses, police stations, hospitals, schools, nursing homes, front porches and stoops, empty lots and yards. We have partnered with many businesses and seeded their outdoor planters with sunflowers, a good idea since this means there’s a built in “watering buddy.” We will continue planting through early August, and we encourage and support individuals and groups everywhere to go out in their communities and plant their own sunflower memorials. The www.sunflowersnyc.com website offers planting information and tips and will eventually include an online map and photo gallery of the sunflower memorials. Planting a single seed to represent one life, to honor one family and thank one child who sent all their pennies to help out the Trade Center, The Pentagon and in Pennsylvania is a direct and immediate gesture of renewal and hope.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful when you take your candlelight wallk toExchange Place or the Hoboken Waterfront on September 11th to walk past hundreds or thousands of sunflowers? I hope you will consider spreading these seeds and include a memorial sunflower planting as part of your indiviudal and community memorial plans.
Bianca Bob
Sunflower Project NYC