Kent: '93 cents for Flight 93,' a campaign for 9/11 victims

KENT -- Sharon Deitrick is collecting change for the 40 men and women who changed the course of history on September 11, 2001.

"Ninety three cents for Flight 93," Deitrick said Sunday, during a fundraiser at Kent State University.

Deitrick hopes to raise $1 million for a National Memorial for the passengers and crew of Flight 93.

Flight 93 was the last of four hijacked planes to crash on September 11. The plane circled above Cleveland before it turned east and, ultimately, crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The crew and passengers aboard Flight 93 took extraordinary action and did not let terrorists hit their intended target. In the process, they sacrificed their lives. 

"Everything that we are as Americans was embodied on that flight," said Deitrick. "Forty people, only one married couple on that flight, got on as absolute strangers. And within less than an hour, understood what was taking place...discussed (the hijacking), devised a plan and incredibly, voted on it.

"It's absolutely a passion of mine and our team," Deitrick said, "that we let that story be known."

Sunday, the story of Flight 93 was revisited during a basketball game between Kent State University and Rochester College. Boy Scouts collected donations at the door of the MAC Center. And there was a halftime tribute to people aboard Flight 93.

"I said to our staff, we're going to do this," said Laing Kennedy, director of athletics at Kent State. "We need to keep the memories of those heroes alive."

Through her travels, Deitrick was well known in Somerset County, Pennsylvania before Flight 93 crashed there. When county commissioners began planning the official funeral for the victims, they turned to Deitrick for help.

According to Deitrick, more than $1 million dollars was raised for the funeral one year after the crash.

Since then, Deitrick has become close to several families of the Flight 93 victims. Their stories inspire her to keep raising money. Sunday, Deitrick recounted the story of Flight 93 passenger, Honor Elizabeth Wainio.

"She called home and her mother got the call," Deitrick said. "And she said, 'Mommy, I think I'm calling to say goodbye.' What does a mother do? She tells her daughter to close her eyes and to feel her arms around her. And she sang the song she sang to her as a little girl."

Deitrick is on the campaign steering committee for the National Memorial. Ground was broken in early November for a 2,220-acre National Park, honoring the sacrifice of 40 men and women who died in Shanksville.

On December 3, Deborah Borza, mother of the youngest passenger on Flight 93, will be the guest of honor at fundraiser at Guy's Party Center in Akron. Live entertainment along with a silent and live auction is planned for the event.