Seedlings from ‘The Survivor Tree’ coming to Pittsburgh
Healing process continues with gift from afar.
Communities in Pittsburgh, Las Vegas and Greece will receive seedlings from “The Survivor Tree,” a Callery pear tree that endured the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks at the World Trade Center. Distribution of the seeds will occur on account of the recipients’ commitment to nurturing the trees to serve as “landmarks symbolizing resiliency and hope,” noted a statement from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
“As the communities in Las Vegas, Pittsburgh and Greece continue their own journeys toward healing, we in New York City stand in solidarity with them and offer these Survivor Tree seedlings as living symbols of the promise of renewal,” said Alice M. Greenwald, September 11 Memorial & Museum president and CEO. “It is our intention that the seedling program will inspire hope around the world.”
This year’s recipients have endured recent violence and extreme disaster. In October 2017, a gunman killed 58 people and injured 400 at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Last Vegas. One year later, a gunman killed 11 people and injured six during the attack at the Tree of Life building. During 2018, a series of wildfires in Greece resulted in 102 fatalities and 172 injuries.
Past recipients of seedlings include communities in Parkland, Florida, Puerto Rico and Charleston, South Carolina.
The National September 11 Memorial & Museum began distributing seeds six years ago in partnership with with Bartlett Tree Experts of Stamford, Connecticut, and John Bowne High School in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens. PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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