The parents of a firefighter {Christopher Santora} who died on September 11, 2001 decided early on to honor Their son and the nearly 3,000 victims who died that day by celebrating their lives. They established a
scholarship that gives college awards of $8,000 and $4,000 to graduating high school students in the New York area based upon an essay competition. We also give awards to elementary and middle school students in the school where Christopher was a teacher. He was a substitute teacher until he became a firefighter which was his dream. To date they have awarded nearly $600,000 to students and schools.
The essay competition is unusual as the judges {they have 50 judges} mark the students essays without any knowledge about them. All identification is removed so that the content of the essay is the determining factor in the winning. Contest winners have continued to the PHD level and there have also been had students who were in Special Education. We have had valedictorians and we have had good students win. All of the winners were passionate about what they wrote about. In addition they honor some special people each year who have made a significant difference in helping people remember 9/11.
This year they will honor Congressman Peter King who has supported 9/11 families since the beginning. He has worked very hard to bring communication between the Muslim community and the rest of America. He has worked to make sure our country is as safe as it can be. He has helped all America and us for a long time.
They are honored that he will be in attendance on Friday June 13, 2014 for our annual Dinner Dance in Riccaro's by the Bridge in Astoria Queens. They also honor special people who have helped us personally in making sure that our scholarship continues. We are pleased this year to honor our 3 daughters: Jennifer Santora, Patricia Santora Cardona and Kathleen Santora. They have worked hard for these past 13 years to make sure that all goes well.
The Scholarship is based on donations and events which they hold during the year. The biggest fundraiser is the Dinner Dance. We hope that if you are available you can attend. it is a joyous event.
www.christophersantora.com
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