Welcome to Heartworks!

CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES
FOR GIVING

Click HERE to learn more about the following opportunities you have to give to people/families in need:
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Food Donations
We are continuously collecting food or Shop Rite Gift Cards for four local families.
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Another Night for Carmella
With each $25 donation, our friend Carmela will get another night's stay in her apartment.
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Gift/Acknowledgement Cards Available at monthly meetings to present to your loved one or friend as a memorial or as a celebration for a special holiday.
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Angels Over the Towers
A self-published book by Heartworks founder Megan McDowell about the "Untold Story of September 11, 2001.

welcome to heartworks
“Heartworks” is a non-profit Acts of Kindness group created in response
to the tremendous kindness that sustained so many families
in the months and years following September 11, 2001.

In daily memory of John W. Farrell
(Jan. 23 1960- Sept. 11, 2001)

Dear Friend,

Thank you so much for visiting our website. I want to share with you a little bit about how and why Heartworks got started.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I had just finished giving my daughter a spoonful of yogurt when the phone rang. It was my brother asking me if I had the television on. Life as my family knew it changed between that spoonful and the next. My brother-in-law John W. Farrell never came home from his job in the Twin Towers. My sister Maryanne had dated him since she was 16. They were married with four children: Kaitlin, Patrick, Molly and Colin. John had been like a member of my close-knit family since I was seven years old.

There are no words to describe the agony and numbness of that first year. I watched my sister struggle to catch her breath each morning. Day after day, my family organized the notes, flowers, donations, religious mementos and food that were brought to the house. Kids from California sent change from their piggy banks and money they had earned mowing lawns. Funds were set up, car pools were formed and meals were delivered through April.

I remember a sensation of sinking, usually when I would wake up at her house each morning and remember what life had brought to us. By the time I walked downstairs, there was coffee being delivered and a neighbor raking leaves. The phone would begin to ring and would not stop until long after the kids had fallen asleep. I stopped several times a day to say a silent "thank you" for the friends, neighbors, professionals and complete strangers who were reaching out to her. While the rest of the world may remember images of crashing planes and burning buildings, my nieces and nephews have memories of teddy bears made from their father's shirts, games and candy being delivered to the front door, and hugs whenever they left the house. The show of kindness from all over the world would have brought us to our knees if we were not already there.

I cannot remember when it was exactly, but I remember clearly saying to myself that when we have our feet solidly on the ground again, I would spend the rest of my life "paying forward" all the kindness shown to my family. How could I not? My silent "thank yous" needed to be said out loud, and often, in a way that would benefit the world the way this kindness had affected my sister. September 11th was a very public tragedy, but people live every day with private or less known struggles. I wanted to create a way of life that encouraged people to pay closer attention to these struggles and to the power of healing available through giving. I knew that the scope of what I wanted to do would be impossible to accomplish on my own. I did not have the time, money or energy to pull off all the ideas I had. I knew I would need a group of people committed to the same ideas to bring these ideas to light. We had moved back home to New Jersey from Colorado in March 2003. I was making friends, but every thing seemed so surface. I was joining in on too many conversations about "things" and other people. I would leave lunches with great women still feeling a bit empty even though I had finished off a full meal (including dessert!).

I had been through too much awakening and had been too vulnerable in the past few years to coast along in relationships that felt anything less than authentic. And so the craving for something deeper continued. The idea came to me that I had to develop something with a base in spirituality..."YIKES! WHAT? Mention spirituality in A group of women? Talk openly about being conscious in our lives and steer away from gossip? Maybe I should just stick with a book club..." But I knew I could never go back to anything ordinary again-life is too short, and too unpredictable. This website is designed as a tool for you to use in your own life--Use any idea or inspiration that you find here in your own circle of friends, family and community.

Thank you for joining in the movement to continue what was born from September 11, 2001--A focus on what is really important in life, being present with yourself, your family and giving to others.

Thank You and Have a Grateful Day.

Love,
Megan
megan@njheartworks.org