Nearly 7,000 people became stranded in tiny Gander, Newfoundland after air traffic was halted on Sept. 11, 2001 and 38 planes landed there.

The people of Gander took care of the people who ended up on their island for days.

Years later, Bob Freese and Peggy Schaefer of Webster learned about the gestures of kindness when they saw "Come From Away", the Broadway show about what Newfoundlanders did on 9/11. The musical is based on the book “The Day the World Came to Town”.

They were moved, and decided the people of Newfoundland needed a big thank you.

With the help of family and friends, the couple collected chocolate bars, wrapped them with hand-signed thank you votes, and hit the road.

The first went to their served where they stopped to eat. The park ranger they met, who was born on 9/11, got one, too.

"People were very touched," Freese said. "It wasn't so much the value of the candy bar as it was to, 18 years later, say thank you for doing something nice that the human race needed."

On that awful day in our history, teacher Diane Davis cared for stranded travelers at the school where she works.

Eighteen years later, she tracked down the new visitors in town.

"Actually, she found us," Schaefer said. "She came to our campground and said, 'Do you want to hear our story?'"

"She said, 'We did what we had to do. We organized, we got together, and we did it,'" Freese said.

Along the way, the simple acts of kindness and goodness extended to the 9/11 travelers came their way, too.

One couple invited them into their home. Others share meals.

They gave out 600 chocolate bars - and received something in return.

"We began to understand how much we really do need each other," Freese said. "We need to be nice to each other. We need to help each other out. Because that is what humanness is all about."

From the day the world paused in shock and sadness, have come simple, lasting lessons.