The Survivor Tree in New York City Symbolizes Hope

You can see in my trunk where I go light from dark, where my limbs were reborn, where I grew brand new bark. My blossoms remind us how strong we all are. I’m a living reminder how we rose from the dark. But the power of hope, there’s just one way to sum it: There’s nothing so bad that we can’t overcome it.

An excerpt from a children’s poem about a battered and broken pear tree discovered among the rubble at Ground Zero in New York City in the weeks following the worst terrorist attack in American history.

Why It Matters: Over two decades later, a once battered and broken Callery pear tree discovered among the rubble at Ground Zero in New York City still stands. NYC’s Dept. of Parks & Recreation started efforts to rehabilitate the tree after it was unearthed from the rubble with only one living branch. As years passed, the tree grew from 8 feet to 30, and in 2010 the 9/11 Memorial in NYC became its home. A symbol of hope, a seedling program helps shares the Survivor Tree’s resilience with communities affected by tragedy. A team of high school students are among those who nurture the tree’s seedlings, which are then gifted to three communities each year. One of the most recent recipients includes Uvalde Memorial Hospital, who treated 15 patients after a gunman killed 19 students and 2 teachers at a Texas elementary school. We will learn this year’s recipients of the Survivor Tree seedlings later this month.