A full year after September 11, dance companies and studios across the nation are still finding ways of paying tribute to NYC and contributing to relief and support efforts.

Among the latest initiatives, an Oklahoma trio of self-designated "Freedom Girls" is actively campaigning for Americans to buy the war bonds—called Patriot Bonds, or Double E Bonds—that were issued on December 11, 2001. Dance retail store manager Susan Dale, along with her mother, dance teacher Randi Johnson Dale and five-year-old daughter Anastasia Richardson joined forces to launch the first war bond drive on December 17, 2001. They have been working to spread awareness about the bonds ever since.

After taking on extra jobs, spending $8,000 of their own money and appealing to politicians and local businesses for help, Susan Dale and her mother have gone on the road in support of their cause. Eventually, they hope to hold a war bond drive in every state—and to distribute 50,000 to 60,000 "Freedom Girls" posters to troops overseas. Eleven governors have endorsed their campaign so far.

According to Dale, it all started three weeks after September 11, when daughter Anastasia told her, "when I grow up, I’m going to be a fireman. I want to help people." Interestingly, Randi Johnson Dale was the original poster girl for war bonds during World War II, when she was five. "History repeats itself," says Dale. "I plan on doing this as long as we are alive, as long as America exists." For more information: www.freedombonds.com

In Opp, Alabama, longtime teacher and studio owner Dorothy Sellars was inspired to give her annual recital a NYC theme after students asked, "What can we do?" On May 31 and June 1, Sellars held performances that featured numbers representing NYC landmarks such as the Guggenheim Museum of Art, Times Square and Wall Street. The performances were all the more meaningful since, for nearly three decades, Sellars has taken groups of 10-15 students to visit the city every summer. Sellars also distributed 184 "I Love NY" T-shirts to the cast, crew, guest performers and ushers, and collected signatures from her students to present in person to St. Paul’s Church, near Ground Zero, which has informally received expressions of sympathy all year.