UNITED STATES – NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 11

Immediately following the terrorist attacks in New York and DC, the Church organized the Volunteer Ministers corps over 800 strong. They came from all over the United States and Canada and as far off as Australia. Volunteer Ministers went to local hospitals to help the injured being brought there for treatment. They also provided food, water and logistical support to the rescue teams.

By the day after the attack, in New York, the team of Volunteer Ministers was stationed at the emergency aid station at the Stuyvesant High School across from the city’s emergency headquarters, which was inside the perimeter closed off by the National Guard. When Mayor Giuliani came by, he was visibly moved and thanked the Church volunteers for all they had done and congratulated them for their efforts.

The president of the Church of Scientology of New York was part of a group of religious leaders who accompanied President Bush to the World Trade Center disaster site.

A Volunteer Minister who had been working with a police officer coordinating materials and supplies for Police Department executives on the scene, was taken to meet the NYPD’s Chief of Police who told her that he wanted to personally thank her and the Church of Scientology for all their efforts.

The Volunteer Ministers were also acknowledged by the New York Fire Department. An officer told them that the Department couldn’t be doing what they’re doing without them.

A reporter from the New York Times saw Volunteer Ministers giving assists (simple procedures that help an individual recover from shock, grief, pain and exhaustion) and wanted to know about them. She did an interview with the president of the Church of Scientology New York, which led to an article “Religious Leader takes his calling to Ground Zero.”