A Cummins employee is asking her co-workers to take a moment Tuesday to honor area first responders as the nation pauses to remember the nearly 3,000 lives lost 17 years ago on 9/11.
Toby Johnson, who works as administrative associate in the patent area at the Cummins Technology Center, is asking her fellow employees to stop by a table in the lab building hallway and jot down an appreciative note to area police, firefighters and ambulance personnel for their service to the community.
Johnson is a retired U.S. Army chief warrant officer and senior special agent in the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command, having served 22 years in the military in law enforcement.
In past years, she has worked with various groups, including Operation Gratitude, which sends care packages filled with items including letters of appreciation to people serving in the military, first responders, military families, wounded servicemen and their caregivers.
This year, Johnson said she decided to make cards and stationary with photos of local first responders and invite Cummins employees to write individual messages on the cards to local emergency workers.
She plans to distribute the cards to law enforcement, firefighters and emergency medical technicians later this week with the hopes the first responders will be buoyed by the messages of support.
With the letter writing, Johnson said she always invited employees to take cards home to their children so the youngsters may also write notes of gratitude or draw pictures.
Columbus police, the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department and the Columbus Fire Department all agreed to submit local images of first responders at work to be included on the cards. The Republic also contributed images that could be used.
“This is the first time I will drop off the cards to local first responders,” she said of the project. “The children’s drawings are my favorite.”
In addition to the cards, Johnson said there will be a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. Tuesday at the technology center, which is the time the first plane, American Airlines Flight 11, struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
In the preamble to the moment of silence, Johnson said the announcement may include the words, “May we rededicate ourselves to the ideals that define our country and unite us as one, as we commemorate all the heroes who lost their lives saving others.”
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To learn more about Operation Gratitude and how to send messages of thanks to servicemen or first responders, visit:
operationgratitude.com/who-we-serve/
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The City of Columbus will have an observance for Patriot Day, the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
The ceremony will begin at 8:40 a.m. Tuesday at Columbus City Hall. Members of the Columbus Fire and Police Department Color Guard will participate. The ceremony is scheduled to be about 30 minutes long.
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