The September 11 Trail will connect the Flight 93 crash site in Shanksville to the Pentagon in Washington DC, and Ground Zero in New York.

“9/11 was a national tragedy, but it’s one that our country responded to.  Our first responders, our citizens, we came back from it and this trail is a memorial, sort of an interactive memorial,” president of the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, Mike Kane, says.

“It is an effort to honor everyone’s sacrifice so much,” Brad Clemenson, the Lift Johnstown coordinator adds.

Several organizations in Cambria County and Somerset County are joining the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies and Lift Johnstown to help connect the 1,300 mile-long 9/11 Memorial Trail.

“Our mission in working with NRG is to assist in building it really from Rockwood up to Berlin in Somerset County.  Then we would like to assist with projects right in the center of Johnstown as we connect existing trails, like the Jim Mayer Trail and the Path of the Flood Trail to the Flight 93 Trail.”

To do this it’s going to cost time and money, which is where the community comes in.  The foundation is working to win a contest with a $100,000 award.  The winner is chosen by popular vote.

“You can vote early.  You can vote often,” Kane explains.

He compares this contest to the Hockeyville one and says we need that same spirit.  To vote all you have to do is go on to the Community Foundation website and click where it says “click here to vote and help us win $100,000.“

You can cast your votes there.

You can vote as many times as you want.  The deadline to send in your votes is December 9.