Spectators encourage runners in the 2013 Boston Marathon. Photo by Stewart Dawson, via Flickr Creative Commons.
Building community is one of the many things at which St. Louis excels. We form organizations to fortify our city, we celebrate our many nationalities and we donate generously to causes that lift our hearts.
Boston shares a similar sense of pride in community, and that spirit was amply on display yesterday after the events at the Boston Marathon. Seconds after the explosions, Bostonians — race officials, first responders and civilians alike — rushed to aid those who needed it, including runners from St. Louis. The good people of Beantown opened their homes and their hearts to runners from all corners of the Earth, and the world noticed.
If you’d like to show support to those in Boston, here are just a few ways you might do so:
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Donate blood: If you’re traveling in the Boston area, visit the American Red Cross of Eastern Massachusetts. You also may donate blood here at the American Red Cross of the Greater St. Louis Region.
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Offer information: If you have information that may help Boston law officials, call the Boston Police at (800) 494-8477.
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Help families: Google has set up a “person finder” so that families and Marathoners can find one another. If you have information about a missing runner, you can submit it to the site.
We’re grateful for the community we have here in St. Louis and proud to share what we can. We wish everyone strength and peace.