To honor the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, the Rio Hondo College gathered together Wednesday  for a ceremony which had a poignant moment of silence at 9:11 a.m.

RHC’s Superintendent and President gave a speech and said “here at Rio Hondo College, we remember how important it is to live together as one community and live in peace.”

The student Senator of Community Service, Phillip Chau, organized the event which included an appearance of RHC’s Fire Academy Cadets and Color Guard.

There was an informational booth available where everyone could stop by to submit a pledge to perform an act of kindness and memorial wristbands were sold for $2, with the proceeds going to a 9/11 fund.

On the pledges of acting of kindness, Chau said it was an idea that was found on a website and he thought it would be a good idea because, “people would think this can be a way we can help out in honor of an event that affected all of us as a country.”

RHC’s theatre professor Kirk Vichengrad is an East Coast native, growing up in New Jersey, he actually used to work to work at the World Trade Center and in an interview with this newspaper he recalled “back to the city to see the memorial they had opened up there, it was so powerful and so dramatic and it just took my breath away because it was eerie, because it was upsetting.”

Once the ceremony concluded, staff, students, and community members talked to one another  remembering the Sept.11 terrorist  and reflecting on the impact of the thousands of lives lost and respecting their memory.