Flags cover Red Cross WNY Chapter House to commemorate 9/11

Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - As New York City and the nation prepare to mark 23 years since the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, Western New York is also marking the date, including one commemoration at the local chapter of the American Red Cross.

"It's important to make sure the families locally that were impacted know we haven't forgotten the losses that they have," said Nick Bond, CEO of the WNY Region of the American Red Cross.

A number of volunteers went to New York City in the days after 9/11 to provide support, and there were those who supported the families here.

Bond says 9/11 is a day everyone remembers in their own way.

"This is something for us, just to make sure that the community doesn't forget," he said. "And even on the day that we were putting the flags down, the Buffalo Fire Department drove by in one of their rigs, and started blasting their horn at us, just saying thank you."

For the volunteers that day, Bond says it was really impactful, and they know they're doing this for the right reason.

There are nearly 3,000 flags laid out, representing one for each person killed that day.

"If you go to the chapter, you'll see that each set of flags is organized by the spaces that we lost individuals. There's a set for each tower, there's a set for the Pentagon, there's a set of 29 for the individuals that were just outside of the Twin Towers, that weren't actually in the building," Bond detailed.

Inside the chapter, there are also tributes to Western New Yorkers who were lost in the attack.

Bond says the process of laying out the flags takes a couple of hours, with nearly 20 volunteers helping plant the flags.