Staten Island Westerleigh Native Named One Of National Recipients Of $25K Generation 9/11 Scholarship

“Every day, I speak to people who tell me they have terminal cancer. There’s nothing I can say that makes a diagnosis any less devastating. But there is something I can tell them that brings comfort. I can tell them that there’s free healthcare and compensation available. That their family may not have to sell their home. That their children can go to college.

“With the Barasch & McGarry Charitable Foundation, we are able to do something meaningful for another segment of the 9/11 community: an entire generation of 100 million people who have been born in this country since 9/11. What really astounded me was that many of them told me they had barely touched the subject in their high school history classes. Instead, for many of them, the lesson of 9/11 has been taking care of a loved one. That’s their memory of 9/11. That’s one of the reasons we started this scholarship program.”

Staten Island Student Named One of Six $25,000 ‘Generation 9/11 Scholars’ from Children & Grandchildren of World Trade Center Victims’ Families

Former 9/11 Fund Special Master, Key Members of Congress & Advocacy Leaders Salute Sacrifices

As the nation marked 25 years since the September 11 terrorist attacks upon New York City, the Pentagon and Shanksville, PA, the Barasch & McGarry Charitable Foundation held a “September 11th Descendants Scholarship Reception” granting $150,000 in college scholarships to six graduating high school seniors selected by the September 11 Memorial & Museum who lost loved ones to 9/11-related illnesses.The event took place on the eve of the 25^th commemoration of the attacks at 3 World Trade Center overlooking Ground Zero.

“While these six, promising young people were born after 9/11, they are living proof that 9/11 did not end at midnight on the 12^th. For them, 9/11 has meant doctors, hospital visits, and lost loved ones,” said Michael Barasch, Managing Partner of leading 9/11 legal advocacy firm Barasch & McGarry, which created and funded the scholarships. “More people have now died of 9/11-related illnesses than did during the terror attacks, and we must continue to honor every victim and survivor.”

Kenneth Feinberg, original Special Master of the September 11^th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), introduced Hofstra University freshman Sophia Cucuzza from Westerleigh, Staten Island. Her mother, Jaime Cucuzza, worked at Thomson Reuters in Lower Manhattan and passed away from 9/11-related lung cancer in 2014, inspiring Sophia to pursue nursing.

Before introducing Cucuzza, Feinberg recalled the herculean effort to create the VCF and how quickly Congress passed it into law to help victims’ families avoid years of costly and uncertain litigation. He said it was, “a legacy that goes beyond victims and is a perfect example of the country’s real character in times of crisis.” The former Special Master continued, “How gratifying it is 25 years later for me to be introducing an award recipient who benefitted indirectly and then directly from the 9/11 victims compensation.”A quarter century after the 9/11 attacks, CDC’s June 2026 data show 145,275 current members of the World Trade Center Health Program, including 88,583 Responders and 56,692 Survivors. Since the first report in 2015, cancer certifications have increased 1,680% across the 9/11 community, and, specifically, 9/11 Survivor cancer certifications skyrocketed 4,066%, from 694 in September 2015 to 28,913 in June 2026.

Also in attendance were former Manhattan Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who shepherded landmark legislation including the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, the World Trade Center Health Program, and the Never Forget the Heroes Act; former Long Island Congressman Peter King, who was instrumental in passing the Zadroga Act; John Feal, founder of the FealGood Foundation; former FDNY Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kerry Kelly; and former FDNY Deputy Chief Richard Alles.

Barasch McGarry Foundation’s September 11th Descendants Scholarship will continue to accept applicants annually.