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GREENSBORO — Like many Americans on Sunday, Serena Holmes and Brian Robinson had the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks on their minds, as well as American troops overseas and first responders.

But they didn’t just spend the day thinking. In the afternoon, they hammered together a door frame, filled supply baskets for the homeless and put together care packages for troops.

“You feel like you’re doing something more than just reflecting,” said Holmes, who lives in Greensboro.

They and many others turned out for an afternoon of volunteer work during the closing day of the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance at the White Oak Amphitheatre.

The event, organized by The Volunteer Center of Greensboro, gave people an opportunity to work with nonprofit organizations and attend a tribute ceremony of music, prayer and poetry.

It was actually a three-day event and it was a part of a national initiative.

For three days, people donated food and volunteered their time and energy at events around the city.

They honored those who died in the terrorist attacks by participating in activities such as the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb. Nearly 300 people tried to climb the stairs of the Bellemeade parking deck 10 times, which equals the highest point a New York City firefighter reached in the trade center towers on Sept. 11.

Sianni Duncan-Wright, 12, hammered boards together to build a window frame that will become part of a Habitat for Humanity house.

She also packed a basket for a child who recently left a homeless shelter.

“Pens, coloring books, a teddy bear … lots of kid’s stuff,” she said. “You never know what they’re going to need.”

Friends in Action collected about 600 notes from people who wanted to write a message to a deployed, returning or wounded soldier.

“I am so grateful for your service to our community,” one note read. “I have a stronger sense of security knowing you are working so hard to protect us. Thank you, with love.”

The organization recorded some people reading their messages aloud and will post the video on its Facebook page.

During the tribute ceremony Sunday evening, the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra performed, as well as the Annointed Vessels Renaissance Mime Ministry, poet Josephus III, students from Guilford County Schools and others.

Leaders from different faiths spoke about the need to work together for peace, healing and tolerance.

Rabbi Fred Guttman said people must not respond to the hatred of terrorists by hating one another or being xenophobic.

“Imagine if we as a community could repair our relationships with one another,” Guttman said, and see every person as one “who is truly created in God’s image.”

White doves were released, and leaders from the Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Sikh faiths prayed together “that we might all be a part of the answer to the prayers we raise this day.”

Contact Jamie Kennedy Jones at 373-7088 or jamie.kennedy@news-record.com