By Peri Kinder | [email protected]

When Riverton City held its first 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance in 2021, it was so successful that city leaders wanted to do it again.

This year, the city’s day of service was held Sept. 10 and hundreds of residents showed up in various locations throughout Riverton to participate in service projects that included weeding, cleaning headstones, gathering donation items, writing thank-you notes and filling sandbags.

“We started it last year when it was the 20th anniversary of 9/11,” said Riverton Councilmember Tawnee McCay. “We thought it would be a good way to remember the lives that were lost and how we came together as a country. We figured if we came together as a community to do good and serve shoulder-to-shoulder, it would be a good way to remember it.”

A big project this year was cleaning out the grass clippings and trash that have clogged Midas Creek. Due to the creek backing up in the past, several homes were flooded, so that area was a focus for much of the clean-up, with rubbish removed from more than 2,100 feet of the channel.

Different religious groups worked together, along with the Lions Club of Riverton, Boy Scouts of America troops and many other organizations, to make a difference in the city. 

Volunteers filled more than 400 trash bags, hauled 32 tons of waste to the landfills, cleaned more than 100 headstones and the veterans’ monument at the cemetery, placed 6,000 square-feet of sod, weeded 10,000 square feet of parking strip areas and filled enough sandbags to fill three large pallets.

There was also an opportunity for residents to write thank-you notes to firemen, veterans, senior citizens and medical workers. Some groups made sleeping mats out of recycled bags and others participated in a household supplies drive for refugees.

“We would have spent millions to get the amount of work done that was done that day,” McCay said. “I loved how so many different organizations came together for the good of our community.”

In addition to the day of service, 911 American flags were placed in Riverton City Park (1452 W. 12600 South) to honor those lost on 9/11. Visitors to the flag display could follow a timeline of events from that devastating day in the country’s history.

“The generosity makes my heart swell,” McCay said. “I loved to see people come together and work side-by-side for the good of Riverton and the greater community, and even other parts of the world.”