Generation 9/11 Scholarships and 25th Remembrance of September 11th Reception

Gala at 3 World Trade Center in NYC highlights next generation of families affected by 9/11-related illnesses ahead of the 25th Remembrance of the attacks

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, September 1, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On Wednesday, September 2, 2026, at 3 World Trade Center in New York City from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the "September 11th Descendants Scholarship Reception” will be held to announce the inaugural recipients of $150,000 in college tuition awards who were independently selected by the September 11 Memorial & Museum as part of the 25th Remembrance of September 11.

The awards will be presented by former September 11th Victims Compensation Fund (VCF) Special Master Kenneth Feinberg; former U.S. Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Peter King; Dr. Kerry Kelly Chief Medical Officer of the FDNY; and 9/11 advocate John Feal, each of whom has played a significant role in advocating for the 9/11 community. Also in attendance is U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand along with numerous public officials and 9/11 leaders.
News desks planning coverage are invited to contact Butler Associates now to coordinate interviews with six 9/11 scholarship recipients and their families, 9/11 legal advocate Michael Barasch, and participating public officials and advocates.

BACKGROUND

A quarter century later, 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 in 9/11 Survivor cancer certifications skyrocketed 4,066%, from 694 in September 2015 to 28,913 in June 2026.

Born years after the attacks, these students scholarship recipients grew up with the illness, loss and financial pressures that followed. Their experiences bring a new generation’s perspective to an enduring reality: “9/11 did not end on 9/11.”

The inaugural September 11th Descendants Scholarship reception will announce six recipients of $25,000 college tuition awards, totaling $150,000 donated by the Barasch & McGarry Charitable Foundation. Independently selected by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum Visionary Leadership Council, the recipients are graduating high school seniors whose families lost loved ones to 9/11-related illnesses. The awards honor those loved ones while helping the next generation pursue higher education.

9/11 SCHOLARSHIP RECEPTION SUMMARY DETAILS

DATE: Wednesday, September 2, 2026
TIME: 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET
LOCATION: 3 World Trade Center, 175 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10007

AWARD PRESENTERS
• Kenneth Feinberg, former Special Master of the September 11th VCF
• Former U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney
• Former U.S. Representatives Peter King
• Dr. Kerry Kelly, retired FDNY Chief Medical Officer
• 9/11 advocate John Feal

GENERATION 9/11 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT PROFILES
• A Rumson, NJ, recipient lost their mother, a Battery Park resident, to colorectal cancer in April 2026 and will attend “New Jersey Institute of Technology.”
• A Baltimore, MD, recipient lost their grandfather, a Camden Fire Department responder, to lung cancer in 2017 and will attend “Penn State University.”
• A Staten Island native lost their mother, an office worker in lower Manhattan, to lung cancer in 2014 and will attend “Hofstra University.”
• A Manalapan, NJ, recipient lost their grandfather, an NYPD officer, to lung cancer in 2021 and will attend “Marist University’s Florence campus.”
• An Orangeburg, NY, recipient lost their grandfather, an electrician, to leukemia in 2021 and will attend “Lafayette College.”
• A Seaford, NY, recipient lost their grandmother, who worked near Ground Zero, to gastric cancer in 2023 and will attend “Penn State University.”

Will Thomas
Butler Associates, LLC.
+1 646-213-1342
wthomas@butlerpr.com