Sisters give $5,000 to firefighters

BANGOR – Nearly a year after an 11-year-old girl wrote “Yes, We Stand,” in honor of those killed in the terrorist attacks, the CD and video of the song have raised $5,000 for the Uniformed Firefighters Association Children’s and Widows’ Fund in New York City.

Alyssa and her sister, Breanne, have performed the song at many events over the past year, including the 2001 American Red Cross Real Heroes Breakfast.

But the youngsters said it was “an unbelievable experience” when they took the check to the firefighters in New York earlier this summer. The CD and video are available in area stores.

The girls and their parents, who live just outside Bangor, met the crew of Engine 16 Ladder 7 at the New York station that lost nine of its personnel in the attack on the World Trade Center.

The firefighters told the McIntyre family that they would always remember the motto “We can do that,” which they had heard so often from Lt. Vernon Richard, one of the nine who died. It was the same thing Alyssa had said about raising money to help those who lost loved ones.

Countless individuals, businesses, schools, organizations and media representatives helped the girls achieve their fund-raising goal for their Yes We Stand Foundation, their dad said recently.