Sowela Foundation hosted a thank you breakfast at the Main Campus for first local responders Monday, Sept. 11.

“We wanted to show our appreciation to first responders, our unsung heroes in so many ways,” said Sowela Technical Community College Chancellor Neil Aspinwall, “and it’s also a way to remember the events of 9/11.”

About 100 local first responders, including firefighters, emergency medical technicians and law enforcement, were expected at the Lake Charles campus Culinary, Gaming and Hospitality Center, giving culinary students hands-on experience. Sowela hosted the same memorial and appreciation event at its Sowela Morgan Smith campus in Jennings.

On September 11, 2001, the number of first responders who were killed as a result of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center were 343 firefighters and paramedics; 23 New York City Police officers and 37 New York City Port Authority officers.