 "There was a brief moment - you could hear one heartbeat - everyone's attention was on helping. NYC came together in a time of crisis." —Santos Crespo Vice President Local 372 |
By Jane LaTour
On Sept. 11, as soon as the first plane hit the south tower, thousands
of people rushed to volunteer their services, including many from
DC 37. The heroism of the mainly blue-collar men and women who clawed
barehanded at the burning rubble in a desperate search for survivors
was a tribute to the human spirit.
But the story of the counselors and couriers and church women who
started volunteering Day 1 at Ground Zero and kept at it for months
has hardly been told. When their wounded city cried out in need,
the following members of the DC 37 community were among hundreds
who answered the call:
Santos Crespo, a school drug counselor and the executive
vice president of Board of Education Employees Local 372, had a
clear view of the first attack as he crossed the Brooklyn Bridge
to Manhattan. By the time he parked at PS 89 on Warren Street, the
second tower was ablaze.
The former Navy man, trained in firefighting and disaster relief,
helped to evacuate first the schoolchildren and then the DC 37 building
even closer to the Trade Center. Then he delivered water and supplies
to rescue workers. On Sept. 12, he worked on the famed "bucket
brigade" that searched the smoldering rubble for signs of life.
Mr. Crespo then was enlisted to use his expertise as a counselor
for the families of victims. Later he resumed his duties as a counselor
in the school system, setting up trauma teams for the students and
the teachers. "The bottom line was that we were in trouble
and help was needed," he said.
Carmen Burgess, a union secretary for 24 years, spent her
first day back at work after surgery loading supplies for rescue
workers. Working out of the Iglesia Christiana Primitiva church
on the Lower East Side, Ms. Burgess and her 13-year-old daughter
Amanda made up individual kits of personal supplies and delivered
them to a Wall Street distribution center. She did this for four
days straight, until her body forced her to give up. Her first response
to 9/11 was, "I have to help."
Audrey McConney,
a DC 37 Rep, worked as a courier for the Red Cross, delivering paperwork
and supplies to the Respite Centers, shuttling people to and from
airports and hotels, picking up loads of food - whatever the job
demanded. At one point, she had to drive an 18-passenger van. "It
scared me out of my wits!" She worked weekends and evenings
and found it to be one of the most rewarding things she's ever done.
 "The rescue workers were such terrific people. They made it easy to help them. I felt good when I saw less pain on their faces." —Penny Curvin, Social Worker |
Penny Curvin, a
union Social Worker, put her Red Cross training as a Disaster Mental
Health volunteer to work. From Sept. 12, Curvin volunteered at the
Respite Centers for the search and rescue workers, working 12-hour
shifts Friday and Sunday nights and weekends until May. Like Audrey
McConney, she viewed her voluntary contributions as a form of self-therapy.
Jocelyn Smith, a MELS attorney, felt compelled to help. The
tenacious lawyer stood in line for six hours to donate blood and
bought fresh socks for firefighters, until a radio appeal let her
contribute her professional skills in the program that obtained
death certificates for grieving families. "All the attorneys
had the same qualms about dealing with families at a time of great
distress," she said.
 "The work was so rewarding. Everyone was so grateful you were there. You felt honored." —Dr. Jennifer Laino, Dentist |
Jennifer Laino, a DC 37 Health Center Dentist, counteracted her feelings of helplessness after 9/11 by making a contribution. A member of the Forensic Dental Society, Dr. Laino volunteered from September to February in the dental team that helped identify victims. "The teeth don't change and everybody has their own distinct set," she explained.