Remembering and Healing

Last week, Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión, Jr. gathered at the New York Botanical Garden with 60 family members of the victims of the Sept. 11 tragedy to plant a tree in honor of the Bronx victims. Carrión, who also hosted a breakfast with the family members before the ceremony, described the spot in the Everett Children's Adventure Garden as "a place of solitude, but [also] of community." After Carrión and several relatives spoke, Melissa Valcarcel and her daughter broke ground in memory of Melissa's father, William Valcarcel, who died in the attacks. 

Monica Iken, who lost her husband, Michael, founded September's Mission, an organization supporting the development of a Memorial Park on the former World Trade Center site.

Also in the Bronx, last week, a 23-foot "healing totem" donated by a Monterey, California group that works with disadvantaged youth was unveiled at the Bronx Zoo. The group received an historic Alaskan cedar log and agree to involve the youth in the ancient art of totem carving. They promised in return that the totem would be donated to a community in need of healing and recovery. Pictured from left are Demetrious Huggins and Jaymes Lambert who are members of the group, and Joseph Werner (fourth from left) director of the group, and his family.

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