Flight 93 Memorial organization seeks up to $500K for 25th observance

Friends of Flight 93 National Memorial has plans for several projects and a fundraising campaign with a goal of between $300,000 and $500,000 in preparation for the 25th anniversary of 9/11 next year.

United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a former Somerset County strip mine on Sept. 11, 2001, after passengers took control of the hijacked plane.

Among the projects the Friends group wants to tackle at the site near Shanksville is to replace those trees that were removed from the 40-tree Memorial Grove because more than half were in poor condition, said Donna Gibson, executive director of the group.

Forty trees were planted to symbolize each of the passengers and flight crew aboard the plane.

As the land had been part of the strip mine, the soil was not suitable for the trees, even though some were native to Pennsylvania, Gibson said. A blend of soil suitable for growing trees in an environment that is windy and cold in the winter has been tested and will be spread in the grove for the new trees, Gibson said.

The Friends group also wants to enhance educational efforts through its National Day of Learning about the terrorist attacks, Gibson said.

The attacks by terrorists using planes as a weapon killed about 3,000 people at the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C., and at the site near Shanksville.

Education about 9/11 is important because as the 25th observance of the attacks nears, more than 100 million Americans have been born without a living memory of the terrorist attacks, Gibson said.

“We want the Flight 93 story to remain meaningful and relevant for current and future generations,” Gibson said.

The fundraising campaign also will support sustainability efforts at the park, Gibson said. The goal is to promote education, environmental stewardship and visitation to the Flight 93 National Memorial.

The organization plans to raise money through a fundraising campaign with multiple phases.

“Over the next year, with direct mailings (soliciting for donations), we’re hoping to raise between $300,000 and $500,000,” by July 2026, Gibson said.

The Friends group, which has a membership of about 6,000, will sell a 2026 calendar containing what Gibson said are unique photos of the Flight 93 Memorial to raise money.

The Friends of Flight 93 got a kickstart on its fundraising initiative when it received a $50,000 grant from the National Park Foundation, the official partner of the National Park Service, Gibson said. That money will be used to modernize the Friends’ direct mail process and digitize marketing efforts for the fundraising campaign.

“We’re hoping that through this campaign, we can help fund these projects with the National Park Service. We see the (National) Parks needing our help more than ever now,” Gibson said.

More information is available at the Friends of Flight 93 website, flight93friends.org.