Every October, the FDNY honors all Firefighters who have died in the past year. Nearly every FDNY Firefighter, active and retired, come to this event to honor the members or their firefighting family.
This year, 5 Lieutenants, 5 Firefighters and 1 Paramedic were honored. Two of these men perished in the line of duty.
I arrived to the memorial in perfect time as everyone was asked to fall in line for the start of the ceremony. Family members of those who lost their lives were in attendance and listened to some very moving speeches given by local dignitaries. These 11 Heroes were  honored by the thousands of Firefighters who lined up along a 5 block stretch of Riverside Drive in Manhattan. To me this was the most fitting way to finish this nearly 9 month long Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes.

My final Firehouse visit was today. The Ten House was my 212th visit to a New York City Firehouse. I visited this Firehouse 2 years ago during my summer-long visit to New York City. This Firehouse holds special meaning as it is located in Ground Zero.
Vincent, a Firefighter of nearly 7 years met with me and we talked about some of the details of The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes. He was excited about posting one of my hand out sheets on the board in the Ten House for all to see.
Even though I have but one last stop on this ride tomorrow. I have a bit more to wrap up before this ride is over and then transition into my next ride. Time is ticking away. It is hard to believe how fast this summer in New York City has flown by.

I must have ridden by the New York State Court Officers memorial at least 50 times this summer. I would stop nearly every time as I made my way along this often traveled route. Today is the last time I will be riding this route.
Thomas, William and Mitchel are 3 of the Heroes who chose to leave their offices on September 11th to help those who here hurt after the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center tower. They never made it out.
Every time I would stop, I would say 3 prayers for them and for the rest of the inhabitants of this world that all the pain and suffering being experienced will cease. Somehow, I think it is going to take a whole lot more of us praying.

The following is taken from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s website:

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The phone number is 1-800-273-TALK (8255) Since its inception, the Lifeline has engaged in a variety of initiatives to improve crisis services and advance suicide prevention.

Risk factors are often confused with warning signs of suicide, and frequently suicide prevention materials mix the two into lists of “what to watch out for.” It is important to note, however, that factors identified as increasing risk are not factors that cause or predict a suicide attempt. Risk factors are characteristics that make it more likely that an individual will consider, attempt, or die by suicide. Protective factors are characteristics that make it less likely that individuals will consider, attempt, or die by suicide.

Today in New York City the US Navy officially commissioned the USS Michael Murphy which is named for Navy SEAL, Michael Murphy who lost his life in Afghanistan while trying to save the lives of the other members of his SEAL team.
This was an event I did not want to miss so I headed on The Kindness Bicycle to the New York Harbor for the ceremony. The event was more joyful than solemn, as the Lieutenant’s life was celebrated by his parents, family, friends and dignitaries, including Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus.
As The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes is about to begin its final week, I am reminded of all the Heroes I have met across the United States during this 9 month tribute ride. It has been a true honor.

I have known Brad Owen for more than 20 years and have always admired his caring nature. Two years ago I contacted him about managing and making some major updates to the One Million Acts Of Kindness website. He and I talked through those changes and that I didn’t have funds budgeted for a design change, it is then that his caring side overrode his business side and he “volunteered” his firm to do the necessary work. He has been working passionately, behind the scenes, to keep this website up to date and easy to navigate. I would recommend his firm, Creavos, www.creavos.com for all of your business and personal needs when it comes to building, managing and marketing a website.

Creavos offers around the clock coverage, supporting companies small and large across the globe. Our foundation is built on state-of-the-art coding tecniques resulting in superior site loading times, out of the box search engine optimized content, and integral browser compliancy.                             Thank you Brad, for the continual great work and caring ethic, making the One Million Acts Of Kindness website an easy to navigate and an informative site on the web.

The Kindness Bus and Bogart were spotted in DUMBO this past weekend by a News 12 Brooklyn reporter. I was contacted by Philip their producer about doing a piece on One Million Acts Of Kindness and the interview took place today. Justin Gunn and Steven Harasymiak, the 2 reporters who came out for the interview wanted to know all about the founding of One Million Acts Of Kindness and of course, all about Bogart. Bogart must have doing his best to let everyone who passed by The Kindness Bus about his existence on the face of the earth. He is a bigger “ham” than I.
With only 2 stops left on The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes, I am busy with fine tuning for the upcoming Ring Our Country with Kindness (R.O.C.K) ride. This ride addressing Bullying and Adolescent Suicide is hugely popular with most everyone I pedal past. I always stop and talk with parents with children present as these topics of discussion are high on their list of concerns.
To me, a lifetime goal of kindness in one’s life is the most positive deterrent to bullying. Please!!!, if you haven’t taken the pledge of One Million Acts Of Kindness, print a Kindness Certificate located on the upper left hand corner of this website for everyone in your family.