RICHMOND, Ind. – A Richmond event will honor first responders and the unity that followed the Sept. 11 attacks.

“Ashes to Angels” will take place Sept. 12 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Reid Center. The program will feature musical performances and personal stories from people whose lives and careers were shaped by Sept. 11, 2001, and its aftermath.

The event grew from a conversation between Richmond Police Department Resource Officer Aaron Stevens and Reid Center board member Ann Fennimore.

“Ashes to Angels came as a result of a conversation with a Reid Center board member who asked me to help put together a program,” Stevens said. “And we were not going to focus on September the eleventh because that was a tragedy. I created the title for it, From the Ashes to Angels, as a result.”

The title is intended to recognize the people who stepped forward after the attacks.

First responders and medical professionals from across the country put aside their personal plans to help those affected by the attacks.

“And that is the spirit of the angels that came out of that tragedy,” Stevens said. “We became selfless and started to do more toward our communities and for each other.”

The program is modeled in part on the National Memorial Day Concert in Washington, D.C., according to Stevens. Music will be interspersed with stories from people discussing where they were during the attacks, what they did afterward and how the events influenced their careers.

Performers will include former firefighter Brian Benedict and Jonathan Hampton, among others.

Hampton will accompany some performances on piano and play a special rendition on the Reid Center’s pipe organ.

“And if you’ve never heard the Reid Center’s pipe organ, it is incredible,” Stevens said.

The event is intended to recognize not only law enforcement and firefighters but also the broader network of people who respond during a crisis.

“Because law enforcement and first responding in general, it’s been referred to as a family for years,” said Richmond Police Chief Kyle Weatherly. “And that’s just not a local agency. That’s across the country. We all do the same job, and it is to stand toe to toe with danger.”

Both Weatherly and Stevens recalled personal memories of Sept. 11.

Weatherly said his uncle, a police officer about 40 miles north of New York City, traveled with co-workers toward the city after the attacks.

“He and some of his coworkers actually drove down and were just on the Hudson River,” Weatherly said.

He said his uncle described the smoke, ash and eerie atmosphere in a way that made the experience feel immediate.

Stevens recalled being awakened by a phone call after the first plane struck the World Trade Center.

“I was awakened by a phone call after the first plane went into the tower and thinking, wow, that’s really tragic. And then while sitting there in bed, watching the second plan go in, and then you realize that this is more than what it just appears,” he said.

Stevens also has a family connection to the Pentagon. A relative, an Army colonel who worked in intelligence, had been transferred back from NATO shortly before the attacks. Instead of going directly to the Pentagon on Sept. 11, he went to look at a house his wife had found in Arlington.

Stevens said his office was about 200 yards from where the plane struck.

Organizers hope “Ashes to Angels” will remind people of the unity that emerged in the days following the attacks.

“We are stronger together when we look beyond devastation and we realize that out of every tragedy there are heroes and heroines that come up and those are our angels of today,” Stevens said.

Weatherly said that spirit continues to guide first responders.

“It’s all about serving the community. That’s what we wake up for every day. To serve family, God and community,” Weatherly said.