This browser does not support the Video element.
Girl Scout creates 9/11 documentary
Ellie Alloway is a 16-year-old Girl Scout from Long Island. She has spent two years producing a documentary about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks for her Girl Scouts Gold Award project.
SOUTHOLD, N.Y. - A Girl Scout from Suffolk County has spent years working on a documentary about Sept. 11, 2001, that tells the stories of people who were impacted on that tragic day.
The stories are harrowing accounts told by survivors, filmed and produced by Ellie Alloway for her documentary titled "Ripples: 9/11 Reflections from the North Fork, NY."
"There are some really emotional stories, there are some people that knew other people sent in to help with cleanup," she said. "Others who were actually at the pile, some people who all their coworkers died."
Ellie combined her passion for film with her empathy about the Sept. 11 attacks. The 16-year-old wasn't even born when so much of the world changed forever.
"My uncle's first girlfriend, unfortunately, died in the Twin Towers," she said. "My neighbor just across the way, he managed to run out there when his boss went to grab his jacket and never made it back out."
The documentary is a culmination of two years of research, interviews, and editing as part of Ellie's Girl Scouts Gold Award project — the highest national award a Girl Scout can receive.
Get breaking news alerts in the free FOX5NY News app | Sign up for FOX 5 email newsletters | Get the Fox 5 Weather App
The documentary will be premiering on the eve of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 in Peconic.
"For a lot of people they had never told anyone what had happened to themselves for 20 years," Ellie said.
She has spoken to school administrators on the North Fork and hopes to get her documentary shown as part of the 9/11 curriculum taught in high school social studies classes.
"I really want people to understand that this happened," she said. "This was a thing and this is how it impacts family members, neighbors, and you."
She has logged well over 100 hours and driven a couple of hundred miles with her mom, Nicole, since she's still too young to get her license.
"When you listen to enough people, you feel like you gain a part of them," Ellie said. "I have souls in me right now. I'm one big mosaic of a human being."
MORE SEPTEMBER 11 COVERAGE:
Bruce Springsteen performs at the 9/11 ceremony
Obama hails the heroes of 9/11
The U.S. marks 20 years since 9/11
Biden, now president, to mark 9/11 rite amid new terror fear
9/11 fallout includes decades of worry about toxic WTC dust
Victims of 9/11-related illnesses honored at new Nassau County memorial
Suffolk County students plant flags for 9/11 anniversary
9/11 responders and other workers pay it forward as volunteers
Ground zero rebuilding still unfinished, 20 years later
NYC's one murder from Sept. 11, 2001, remains unsolved 20 years later
Remembering Ronald Bucca, 'The Flying Fireman' | 9/11: 20 Years Later
Retired firefighter builds ceremonial truck to honor friend who died of 9/11 illness
NYPD increasing security for 9/11 ceremonies
Identifying World Trade Center remains continues 20 years after 9/11
NYPD treating 9/11 anniversary in 'elevated threat environment'
New DNA technology approved to identify remains of more than 1,100 victims of 9/11
9/11 as American History: Schoolteachers prepare lessons
'The Bravest' brew benefits 9/11 first responders
'Never Forget Walk' continues path to Ground Zero to mark 20th anniversary of 9/11
Surviving 9/11 was 'just the first piece of the journey'
20 years after 9/11, scars, pain from loss remain