Reading Terminal Market merchants hosted a breakfast on June 25 to honor the first responders who helped rescue passengers of the Amtrak train derailment on May 12.

“You are a critical part of Philadelphia,” Anuj Gupta, Manager of Reading Terminal Market, said. “Recognizing the work that all of you did to not only address the disaster caused by the Amtrak train, but save countless lives on the days that followed and the lives that you save everyday in the city through the work that you do, is what’s important and that’s what we’re here to recognize today. We’re very grateful for everything that you do to make this city safe.”

City officials and leaders of Philadelphia Police Department and Philadelphia Fire Department were in attendance.

“The thing that we’ve learned with this particular tragedy involving Amtrak is that these kinds of things and other misfortunes can happen anywhere, anytime, in any city in the world,” Alan Greenberger, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development of City of Philadelphia, said. “Obviously we want to work as hard as we can to prevent these things from happening, but they are going to happen anyway and how we respond is as important as everything else that we can do. How all of responded was superb.”

“We can’t always reward our members. By the merchants coming together and having this special event for our first responders, it’s a way for them to feel appreciated,” Derrick J. V. Sawyer, Fire Commissioner of the Philadelphia Fire Department, said.

Members of the Philadelphia Police Department and Philadelphia Fire Department enjoyed all kinds of breakfast foods including like pancakes, fruit, and eggs.