This is a story about a 25-year effort to create a national day of service. And for Tribecan Tom Michaud, that effort started 25 years ago tomorrow. I will let Tom tell the first part of the story himself; read on below to learn more about how since then, he’s tried to help build fraternity out of tragedy.

“I was coming into work a little bit late that day, September 11th, from our house in Greenwich. I used to run our 7:30 am meeting at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods — we were on the 89th floor of the South Tower — but I went to the Michael Jackson concert the night before with clients, and I told my backup that I might be late. I woke up on time and was getting ready, but our 4-year-old son, David surprised me in the shower that day. He had never done it before and he never did it again. It cost me a few minutes. The doors at the train in Cos Cob shut right in front of me on the platform.

“I caught the next train and got out at Fulton, just north of Century 21, and as I’m walking across the street — I can picture the Krispy Kreme donuts right there — I looked up and I saw an American Airlines jet fly right into the North Tower. That’s when it all started.

“I ran a few blocks north and then, after running, I found a Bank of New York branch and called home, called my mom and called the office. There was nothing but chaos on the phone at the office — they said a small plane hit the other building. And I said no, that was a jet.

“While I was on the phone with my boss, the announcement came on which said to stay right where you are. So I said to my boss, maybe I will come in. And then I saw the hole in the building with fire coming out of it — it stopped me in my tracks. People started to jump. I had a window seat on the 89th floor and I could immediately imagine what that must have felt like for them. I was standing there with my eyes shut thinking of that horror, when the second plane hit. There was debris flying everywhere and that’s when the NYPD arrived and told us to get out of there.

“I ran uptown and only turned around twice — both times to watch the buildings collapse. And that’s what I realized that all my friends were killed — I had watched the second plane hit right where our offices were.

“In Greenwich, my wife had walked the kids to nursery school when someone told her that a plane hit the World Trade Center. When she got home, two of her best friends were standing in our driveway waiting for her, so she wouldn’t be alone. Two more friends went to my mom’s house, a 70-year-old widow, just to hold her hand while she waited for news of me.

“In my daze, got on the wrong train going home and when I showed my pass, the ticket agent said, ‘Pal, this train is going straight to New Haven.’ He saw my World Trade Center ID and put his hand on my shoulder and walked away. As we approached Greenwich, the conductor made an announcement that the train would make an extra stop.”

Those small acts of kindness are why, when Tom was approached in early 2002 to help with a fledgling cause to create a day of service in honor of the victims of 9/11, he signed on. KBW became the founding sponsor for 9/11 Day, created by David Paine and Jay Winuk, who had lost his brother Glenn in the collapse of the the towers.

“It was that kind of goodwill I am talking about — that’s what we are trying to capture,” Tom said. He’s now on the board of the organization. “We want 9/11’s history to involve action and doing something. September 11th was a horrible a day — the worst humanity had to offer. But what happened the day after was the best that humanity had to offer.”

The organization was founded officially in 2002 and recognized by the George W. Bush White House when Paine and Winuk received the President’s Call to Service Award in 2007. In 2009, Congress and President Obama passed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act — formally establishing September 11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance under federal law.

In 2016, 9/11 Day created its inaugural meal pack event, when 1,600 volunteers come together to assemble 503,000 meals for Americans facing hunger here in the city. The event has ballooned: this year they are aiming for 17 million meals packed by 60,000 volunteers across 50 U.S. cities — the largest single-day meal pack in American history.

In addition to packing meals, the organization also provides education materials and funding for high schools and colleges that want to organize service events. “$1500 goes a long way on a college campus,” Tom said.

9/11 Day has support from both Republicans and Democrats and the organizers hope to grow both the message and the reach. They have built a vast network of corporate sponsors — 800 of them — who provide both manpower and funding for the meal packs. And they want the concept to catch on, even in small ways, like visiting an elderly neighbor — “doing something for someone else and remembering there is more that unites us than divides us.”

“We have got to recognize the idea that the best way to honor the victims is to remember the goodwill and the unity that happened right after,” Tom says. “That is how we should recognize 9/11. That’s our mission.”