Huntingdon Valley Resident To Honor Fallen Sister with 9/11 5K Run

Everyone who was affected by the events of September 11 finds their own unique way to deal with the tragedy. The healing process is a difficult one at times, and over the last 10 years Americans have found ways to remember the victims in all sorts of manners.

For some, the collapse of the World Trade Center and the mental images of the destruction that took place are burned in their brain forever. For others like Huntingdon Valley resident Mindy Gottenberg, there’s not a day that goes by where she isn’t reminded of 9/11.

That day marked the loss of her sister, Alisha Levin, who was 33 years old working in the South Tower of the World Trade Center as the vice president of human resources for Fuji Bank. The day changed her family forever.

And now Gottenberg and the rest of the community want to honor her fallen family member with an organized a 5K run/walk this Saturday, Sept. 10, at Alverthorpe Park in Jenkintown. Registration starts at 9 a.m. and the run will begin at 10 a.m.

“It was just so hard; for the first few years it was so tragic, we couldn’t even think about it we were so muddled down in our depression,” Gottenberg said. “This was really the first year we really felt like we needed to do something.”

Families were torn apart by the terrorist attacks and now even more citizens go through daily stress wondering about their loved ones who are fighting overseas. And then there are some family members that won’t even get the chance to meet their relatives who perished in the destruction.

Gottenberg’s cousin and co-chair for the event, Cindy Roseman, has a 2-year-old son who will never get to meet Alisha, and that was an instrumental reason to getting the charitable event started. Alisha didn’t have any kids of her own, but she was connected to the children in her immediately family and first cousins.

“My children had a connection to my sister because they knew her,” Gottenberg said. (Cindy’s) son doesn’t. She was the one who facilitated us to do something and get the ball rolling.

“So much of what September 11 is focused on is the event and the towers and the planes,” Gottenberg added. “This event more puts the focus on remembering what kind of person Alisha was. She was such a caring person and funny. Everyone at the run knew Alisha.”

The registration fee is $25 and all the proceeds will go to towards the Alisha C. Levin Memorial Fund. Two scholarships will be presented to her Alma matters, Hofstra University and Northeast High School.

“When it first happened we were put in touch with a group called the Philadelphia Foundation,” Gottenberg said. “And they were almost like a middle man for helping donors find donations. We set up the scholarship fund in Alisha’s name. But in the back of our head, we always wanted to do something but we couldn’t get our hands around what and where.”

The when and where will come together on the 10-year anniversary of the event.  There will be food and t-shirts given out.

For more information or to register for the event, visit www.alishalevinmemorial.org.

For directions to Alverthorpe Park, click here.