ITHACA, N.Y. -- Two firefighters from the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) will give six presentations in the Ithaca area Thursday and Friday, Jan. 16 and 17, as part of a statewide tour to give thanks to communities who supported rescue efforts in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

The program will include video and artifacts from Ground Zero.

FDNY's Michael Balone and Robert Barnette will give two programs at Cornell University Thursday. At the beginning of a program to start at 9 a.m. in Room G-2 of Barton Hall, they will present a flag that was used as a memorial flag at Ground Zero to William Boice, director of Cornell Police. The second program will be presented at 1:30 p.m. in James Law Auditorium of Schurman Hall at the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Other presentations will be Thursday at 7 p.m. in Trumansburg High School, and Friday at the Southern Tier Law Enforcement Academy in Corning at 9 a.m., in Ithaca City Hall chambers at noon and at Dryden High School at 7 p.m.

Cornell Police patrol officer Ellen F. Brewer, who is coordinating the visit, said it is "part of an outreach program by FDNY to give thanks to people for their support."

In the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, Brewer organized a number of campus groups from Cornell and Ithaca College that delivered needed supplies to Ground Zero in several trips. Nishi Dhupa, director of emergency and critical care at the Cornell Hospital for Animals, took supplies and equipment from the veterinary college to Ground Zero as part of the response effort of the American Veterinary Medical Association's Veterinary Medical Assistance Team.

A number of Ithaca community agencies and groups also made donations to the rescue effort, including the Ithaca Fire Department's Ithaca Paid Firefighters Association, Local 737.