Before the smoke cleared, the American Red Cross met the challenge of the 9/11 attacks with immediate on-the-scene responses from chapters in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania. As the embers smoldered and eventually burned out, Red Cross work continued.

Massive Red Cross relief operations, staffed primarily by volunteers and made possible by the generosity of donors, provided mental and physical health support for hundreds of thousands, fed millions and sheltered more than 3,500 families.

Thousands of Red Cross volunteers from all 50 states sprang to action. Shock, anger, pain and disbelief spurred many more to also become Red Cross volunteers.

Below, eleven Red Cross volunteers remember September 11.