2,996 people died from the September 11th attacks in 2001. 23 years later, that number continues to grow from the ongoing toll of related cancers. But progress is being made in the fight — and for Nancy Kennedy, director of development at Hackensack University Medical Center Foundation, the cause is personal.
As a survivor of 9/11, Nancy finds meaning in fundraising for cancer care especially for those who have developed cancer from their presence at or near Ground Zero.
In 2001, Nancy was a vice president of sales for Morgan Stanley. A typical morning on the 70th floor of the World Trade Center's South Tower was interrupted when she “heard a noise and felt a concussion,” soon seeing flying debris from the windows of the room in which she'd been having a meeting.
That was the plane hitting the North Tower.
Within minutes, Nancy was gathering her colleagues to evacuate the building. The internal announcements said to stay in place, but it was vice president of security Rick Rescorla who ordered the evacuation. Rescorla died in the attack, but the memory of his heroic action that saved countless lives will be forever remembered.
It was right as they were beginning the evacuation process in numbers that the plane hit the South Tower, just eight floors above where Nancy and her colleagues were, at that moment, in the process of calling their families to say they were okay.
After making sure her colleagues were with her, Nancy made a 70-story dash down a special emergency and evacuation staircase, with the main staircase blocked due to damage. 17 minutes after her escape, the South Tower collapsed.
Driven by a purpose to help, Nancy joined the American Red Cross as a disaster response volunteer. She helped train other volunteers for their response to Hurricane Katrina, and eventually helped fundraising efforts.
“It turned out I was good at fundraising,” says Nancy. “So they hired me as a fundraiser.”
Eight years later, when a job opportunity came up from her own health network, Nancy joined the Hackensack Meridian team. She's now been fulfilling her passion of raising money for cancer care for nearly a decade, supporting treatment and research at John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center.
Nancy first joined the foundation to support "a good cause," a drive that has been strengthened as she witnesses friends and colleagues fall ill due to complications of living through 9/11.
“If something good can come out of the horror of that day, I’m okay,” says Nancy, who sees personal reward in her professional endeavors. “The best part of my job is meeting grateful patients who want to give back after receiving excellent care here, and with their gifts, recognize those who provided such care.”
“I am lucky enough to still be here,” says Nancy, “and fortunate to be able to do something important to our community.”
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