Strengthen the Good: September

This is a day or so late, but the folks over at Strengthen the Good have selected the micro-charity for September.

September 11 was unique because it reversed the typical order of tragedy in war: rather than it being the parents who sent their children off to face an uncertain fate, on 9/11 it was the children who sent off their parents.

One of those children, though not yet born at the time, was Pierce Woodall, daughter of Brent and Tracy Woodall. Tracy was five weeks pregnant on 9.11.01, when she and her unborn child sent Brent, a stock trader, off to work at Bruyette and Woods on the 89th floor of the south tower of the World Trade Center.

Tracy was among the thousands of loved ones who had the bittersweet experience of receiving a phone call from WTC that September morning, as Brent called to let her know all was well in his tower. This was to change, however, when the second plane hit.

He didn't make it.

Shortly before 9/11 the Woodalls began plans for a foundation dedicated to giving help to families of autistic children. And in memory of her husband, Tracy was the driving force behind creation of the Brent Woodall Foundation for Exceptional Children. The Foundation has already made an impact, for instance in their work with Romanian orphans.

Once again: the idea behind Strengthen the Good is to harness the efforts of bloggers, regardless of ideological orientation, to raise funds from readers—even if only a dollar or five at a time. The easiest way to donate is by credit card or PayPal on STG's main page.