September 13, 2026 – Hundreds of people gathered at the Hampton Inn Decatur/Mt. Zion Friday to honor the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, during the seventh annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb and Tribute.
The event featured a 110-story stair climb, memorial flag garden and an honor ride featuring emergency vehicles.
Brit McKinney, general manager of the Hampton Inn and a firefighter, helped organize the event, which began in 2020 with five volunteer firefighters who worked at the property. What began as a small gathering of firefighters, friends and family has grown into an event that McKinney estimated drew between 300 and 400 participants this year.
The full stair climb consisted of 28 laps of the hotel, representing the 110 stories first responders climbed in the World Trade Center. McKinney said the event was designed to be accessible to everyone, regardless of how much of the climb they could complete.
“Whether you can come and climb one set of stairs, whether you can do the full 28, whether you can do none and you want to come and just see the memorial flag garden or see the firemen, that’s OK too,” McKinney said. “We really just want to create an accessible place for people to come and honor the victims of 9/11.”
Employees from ADM also participated in the event through ADM Cares Acts for Impact, the company’s global volunteer campaign.
ADM added a charitable component to the participation. Every ADM employee who completed any portion of the climb unlocked a $10 donation per hour to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.
Amanda Hammer, an ADM benefits specialist who manages the company’s wellness center, helped promote the event among employees and encouraged them to prepare by using the center’s stair climber.
“Each year, about a month out, we start to plan and share out flyers, gain interest, encourage people to come to the wellness center, use our stair climber, get ready for the event,” Hammer said.
Participants received honor badges featuring photographs of first responders who died on 9/11. Outside the hotel, 2,977 flags represented each person who died in the attacks, including first responders and civilians.
McKinney said the event has continued to grow because of the community’s desire to remember those who were lost.
