Generosity and its mighty power to change

The 9/11 story you may have forgotten comes to the LCCT stage

By Kurt Johnson

Las Cruces Bulletin

For five days, the little town of Gander, Newfoundland, underwent a transformation. Its airport was built in an era in which transatlantic flights needed to refuel before continuing across the ocean. By Sept. 11, 2001, it had become largely a quiet reminder of aviation's past. Then, in a matter of hours, it became one of the busiest airports in the world.

Thirty-eight commercial airliners landed on its runways, carrying nearly 7,000 passengers who had expected to be somewhere else entirely. The town itself had only about 9,000 residents.

No one had a plan for what happened next. Schools became shelters. Churches filled with cots. Community centers opened their doors. Residents sorted clothing donations by size, cooked meals, delivered toiletries, found translators, walked dogs, filled prescriptions and, in many cases, handed house keys to people whose names they had learned only hours earlier. Read More