9/11 first responders build children’s bicycles for charity

First responders and employees of companies affected by the Sept. 11 terror attacks built 500 bright pink and green children’s bicycles in lower Manhattan Wednesday as part of the 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance.

The employees were joined by members of the NYPD, FDNY, Department of Sanitation and Port Authority Police Department to build the bikes that will be given to the children of active U.S. military members, officials who organized the event said.

“Honored & humbled to help #NYPD @FDNY @PAPD911 & @911TribMuseum put together 500 kids’ bikes today for @FtBraggNC & first-responder families,” NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill’s Twitter account posted just after noon.

The tweet included video showing him and two other cops helping to put a bright green child’s bike together at the Oculus.

“The 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance is a special day for survivors to assemble bikes for children of military families,” 9/11 Tribute Museum CEO Jennifer Webb said. “It is a fun day of team building and generosity in honor of all the support NYC received after 9/11.”

Volunteers at the bike building event were organized into teams at stations including inflating tires, quality control, attaching ribbons and bows and writing a note to each child in appreciation for their parent’s service. Bikes were expected to be distributed to the children of families in the Joint Special Operations Communications Unit at Fort Bragg, N.C.

The service activities carry on across the country during the month of September, including painting and refurbishing homes and organizing food drives, organizers said.