Creating day of service for 9/11

Newport Beach resident David Paine has lobbied for the last seven years to transform Sept. 11 into a national day of service after his friend’s brother died trying to help victims of the 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attacks.

After years of campaigning, President Barack Obama is expected to sign the Serve America Act later this month, which would designate Sept. 11 as a national day of volunteerism.

Paine is the co-founder of the online nonprofit group www.mygooddeed.org, which lets people promote their charitable projects on the Internet. From a couple who built a church in Afghanistan to a teenager who promised to help her mother more around the house, the site provides an outlet for good deeds big and small.

“It was such a terrible thing for 3,000 people to lose their lives in that way, I’ve always felt that there needs to be a way to counterbalance that,” Paine said. “If we can turn Sept. 11 into a day when people do something good for somebody else, then we’ve taken that day back in a way.”

Paine founded the organization with his longtime friend, New York resident Jay Winuk, after his brother, Glenn Winuk, died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The body of New York attorney Glenn Winuk was found in the rubble of the World Trade Center with a borrowed medical kit by his side six months after 9/11. A volunteer firefighter, Glenn Winuk rushed toward the burning World Trade Center towers from his Manhattan law office to try to help in the aftermath of the attacks.

“By racing toward this towering inferno, he surely demonstrated what service to others is all about,” Jay Winuk said. “Service to people you either know or don’t know is a very fitting tribute to him and the way he died.”

Like Jay Winuk, Paine also had a brother who was working in downtown Manhattan on 9/11.

“Initially, we couldn’t get in touch with him, but my brother came home that day. Jay never heard from his brother again,” Paine said.

Paine and Jay Winuk have met with 22 different 9/11 survivors organizations to get support for making Sept. 11 a national day of service.

For the past seven years, they’ve lobbied Congress and sought out charitable support for their cause.

“We really felt we had to have the backing of survivors that this was something they felt would be appropriate for the day,” Paine said. “We didn’t want it to be a national holiday where in 10 years, people would be having barbecues in their back yards. We wanted it to just be a normal day.”

Paine left his public relations business in January to make mygooddeed.organd creating a national day of service his full-time job.

“Someone recently said to me, ‘Aren’t you glad this is done,’ but it’s really just the beginning,” Paine said.

Paine hopes to make Sept. 11, 2011, the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks, the largest national day of service the history of the U.S. with volunteers participating in events across the country.

“[Paine] did not lose somebody and he’s gone through great personally sacrifice to see this through,” Jay Winuk said. “He has put in countless hours and resources shown great leadership — he’s a very good soul.”

Reporter BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].