The Footloose star was living in Manhattan's Upper West Side neighbourhood 14 years ago when the atrocity unfolded, and to mark the tragic anniversary, he decided to offer up his services as a volunteer on what has become known on social media as #911Day.

He headed to Queens to help officials at food rescue charity City Harvest pick through fruit and vegetables from local farmers' markets to repackage and distribute to the needy.

Speaking at the event, he said, "To do something with your hands that is helping people who are less fortunate, to me it's a pretty powerful idea."

He later shared photos from the volunteering session online, and tweeted, "Thank you @cityharvest volunteers. Rescuing food for #NYC hungry (is) important every day, but even more on #911Day."

Bacon wasn't the only celebrity doing good on Friday - Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Buscemi, Pamela Anderson and rapper 50 Cent were among the stars who took to the trading floor on Wall Street to take part in the Cantor Fitzgerald and BGC Partners' 9/11 Charity Day event, which raises money for various charities to commemorate the victims of the tragedy.