Area couple honored
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Gov. James Douglas and Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie (right) honor Don and Sally Goodrich of Bennington for their efforts in Afghanistan on behalf of their son, Peter Goodrich, who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. PATRICK MCARDLE / RUTLAND HERALD |
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By PATRICK McARDLE STAFF WRITER - Published: May 3, 2010
BENNINGTON – After their son, Peter Goodrich, was killed while a passenger in the plane that crashed into the southern tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, Don and Sally Goodrich of Bennington responded, not with anger or thoughts of vengeance, but by bringing educational and economic opportunity to Afghanistan. On Saturday, they were thanked for those efforts by Bennington and the state of Vermont.
Gov. James Douglas and Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie were among several hundred people at the Bennington Center for the Arts for the "Goodrich Dragonfly Celebration."
Douglas said the Sept. 11 attacks had changed the world, but especially affected those who suffered a "direct and personal" loss like the Goodrich family.
"After suffering that loss, you could have withdrawn, you could have chosen to experience your grief in private and gone about your daily lives and no one would have expected more … but that's not who you are, Sally and Don. That's not how you wanted to respond. You took that tragedy and turned it into something very good indeed, turned it into something wonderful for so many. You engaged the spirit of the community and the nation to make a commitment to bring our world closer together," Douglas said.
Douglas presented the Goodriches with a proclamation making May 1 "Sally and Don Goodrich Day" in Vermont.
Since Don, an attorney with Donovan & O'Connor, which is based in Bennington and Massachusetts, and Sally, a public school administrator, started the Peter M. Goodrich Memorial Foundation, it has funded the construction of a 26-room schoolhouse which was dedicated in 2006 and supported the education in the United States of almost 20 Afghani students, among other works.
The foundation's efforts are ongoing and Sally told the audience on Saturday that she had most recently been to Afghanistan last week.
"I often wish I could have you all with me there for just one trip or just one moment in time so that you might meet the remarkable, courageous people who taught us more about courage and endurance and who continue to be our examples," she said.
Danielle Fogarty, a partner in Donovan & O'Connor, helped organize Saturday's event.
"(The event is) for no other reason than to celebrate the world of good that's been done in the last nine years. … It was time. They had been honored elsewhere but never in Vermont so we wanted to make sure that in the local community they were honored and recognized," she said.
Those honors included proclamations from the Vermont Legislature, presented by Rep. Mary A. Morrissey, R-Bennington, and the town of Bennington, presented by Town Manager Stuart Hurd.
"From what must be the most unfathomable horror, you have brought compassion, tolerance, hope and opportunity to Afghanistan and to the world and for that, we all thank you," Hurd said.
Fogarty also read letters from U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. Leahy, who read his statement into the Congressional Record in April, in which he said the Goodrich Foundation recognized "the untapped potential of a generation of Afghan children" and helped those children develop values based on tolerance, understanding and respect.
Many of the Afghani students who have gotten a chance to go to schools in Vermont and Massachusetts due to the Goodrich Foundation, and who stay with Don and Sally during their time in the United States, were also at the celebration.
A documentary, about 20 minutes long, showed Sally visiting American elementary school students who had donated to the foundation and Afghani students in the province of Logar where the school was built.
Don Goodrich said that he believed Saturday evening was a celebration of more than just the Goodrich Foundation and the efforts he and his wife have made.
"We couldn't have done what we have done without the support of these people. The response to our attempts to do something in Afghanistan and to do something for Afghan kids in this country has been generous. We never asked for it, people just stepped forward and I think it says something about, certainly, this part of the country – I think the country as a whole, to tell you the truth. We've gotten donations from California, from Alaska, from all over the world, from England. I think there's just a belief on the part of the larger population that there's another way to approach the difficulties in this world in these times. I think it's wonderful," he said.
For more information or to donate to the foundation, visit the Web site at www.goodrichfoundation.org.
patrick.mcardle@rutlandherald.com
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