by MELISSA ANELLI
It's payback with special holiday interest. When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, firefighters citywide responded to aid New Orleans, a city that had sent hundreds of its own firefighters to help their comrades in New York on Sept. 11, 2001. That effort expanded to the 9-11 Families for Katrina Relief, a gathering of those who lost loved ones in the terrorist attacks and wanted to repay their gratitude to the Big Easy for its support. This year, the efforts will continue via a citywide toy drive, with firefighters collecting for the cause. "We hope all the people in the city will come out to drop off a toy, so that some child may have a gift for Christmas," said FDNY Chief Salvatore Cassano, at a press conference at the Postcards Memorial in St. George yesterday. "No other city came to our aid so quickly [as New Orleans o 9/11]...[this is] a way of us giving back, which isn't always something you can do." Those who want to donate to the cause need only drop off a toy at any city firehouse between now and Nov. 29; retired firefighters will then collect the toys and send them down to New Orleans via big red truck. Retired firefighter Tom O'Connor is leading the toy collectors; he has made several trips down to the devastated regions since the hurricane hit, helping deliver 21 trucks full of goods. "We got down there pretty soon after the event. ... These people had nothing," O'Connor said. "Then we kept going back. People were so thankful, and the fact that we were New York City firefighters added to it." Frank Siller, chairman of the 9/11 Families for Katrina Relief, said this work is an extension of the lessons he learned on Sept. 11, when his brother, firefighter Stephen Siller, ran through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel with his equipment and didn't return from Ground Zero. "My brother is with me every day of my life," he said, "[and] in the spirit of my brother I realize that life is short and we must [do good] while we are here."
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