No. 16 Vol. 5
www.mypaperonline.com
May 2018
Long Valley Woman Steps Up Awareness With Upcoming Tower Climb
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By Cheryl Conway n Sunday, June 3, Roberta Lance of Long Valley will be climbing 102 stories- 2,226 steps- in the Freedom Tower in New York. Her fourth year participating, the 57 year old Washington Twp. bus driver is raising awareness and money for the Stephen Siller Tunnel To Towers Foundation in the New York City Tower Climb. She has raised $250 from donations so far and seeks more. Go to crowdrise.com/t2ttowerclimb and search Roberta Lance in top right corner for her donation page. She usually collects from about 20 people, mostly family and friends, each year- collecting close to $2,000 total- but her purpose is not so much about the dollars raised. “It’s important because people need to remember that day,” says Lance, mother of two grown children and grandma of a two-year old boy. “It’s kind of like the Pearl Harbor of my time, of my generation. It impacted me. It will be with me my entire life. The day I will never forget.” Her acquaintance, Hilda Marcin of Budd Lake, a substitute special education aid, died as a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001, in Pennsylvania. She also supports the foundation’s mis-
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sion, especially since her brother works with Emergency Medical Services in Georgia. The Stephen Siller Tunnel To Towers Foundation honors the sacrifice of firefighter Stephen Siller who laid down his life to save others on September 11, 2001. On that day, Siller, “who was assigned to Brooklyn’s Squad 1, had just finished his shift and was on his way to play golf with his brothers when he got word over his scanner of a plane hitting the North Tower of the World Trade Center,” the website explains. “Upon hearing the news, Stephen called his wife Sally and asked her to tell his brothers he would catch up with them later. He returned to Squad 1 to get his gear. Stephen drove his truck to the entrance of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, but it had already been closed for security purposes. Determined to carry out his duty, he strapped 60 lbs. of gear to his back, and raced on foot through the tunnel to the Twin Towers, where he gave up his life while saving others.” The foundation also honors military and first responders “who continue to make the supreme sacrifice of life and limb for our country,” as stated on the foundation website. Monies raised support fallen first responders by easing the financial burden
of their families; of service members by building mortgage-free smart homes for those catastrophically injured; and community to help local children in need who have been orphaned or who have lost one parent and require funding to assist with education, counseling or other needs. Lance first got involved with the foundation in 2011 when she participated in the Tunnel To Towers 5K Run and Walk, a fundraiser that represents the footsteps Siller took with his fire gear on to help his fire company, the day he lost his life when the towers collapsed. Her brother, sisterin-law and niece have joined her in the run. Four years ago, she decided to participate in the Tower Climb. Limited to just 1,000 people, it started out as a lottery, she says. Participants are sent up in waves “by like 100 people so you’re not bunched up on the stairs. “I was very drawn to the Twin Towers years ago,” she says. “I was very drawn to the organization on the 10th anniversary. “I saw it was open to anyone who could walk; walking got boring so I picked up the pace.” Held since 2015 at One World Trade Center in New York, 1,000 participants “make their way up the steps of the building that symbolizes strength and hope, continued on page 14