NEW YORK — The National September 11 Memorial & Museum is launching a seedling program based on the Survivor Tree, a pear tree pulled from the World Trade Center rubble after 9/11.

The museum says seedlings from the tree will be sent to what it calls "resilient communities" that embody "the spirit of the Survivor Tree."

Three communities have been selected for the inaugural launch.

They are Boston, in honor of the marathon bombing in April that killed three people and injured more than 260; Prescott, Ariz., for the 19 firefighters who died battling a wildfire in June; and the Far Rockaways in New York City, which were devastated last year by Superstorm Sandy.

Representatives from each community will attend a ceremony Wednesday at Citi Field to announce the program.