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THE BLUEPRINT:
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Deer Park Recycling donates $400,000 to create the Jeffrey M. Sissons Memorial Scholarship Fund
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10 scholarships of up to $40,000 each support students from Westbury or New Cassel
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Scholarships target first-year students with economic need and are renewable for up to four years
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First awardee plans to pursue a career in medicine
A Westbury-based company is investing $400,000 to fund 10 four-year scholarships, up to $40,000 each, for students from Westbury or New Cassel attending SUNY Old Westbury, the university announced Monday.
Deer Park Recycling, a provider of scrap metal recycling, is creating the Jeffrey M. Sissons Memorial Scholarship Fund through a donation to the Old Westbury College Foundation, Inc. The donation was given by Anthony Sissons to honor the life, career and philanthropic legacy of his father, the company’s founder who died in 2024.
“These scholarships were something my father and I discussed often,” Anthony Sissons said about the new scholarship.
“Along with his work career, my father offered support to the community our company calls home, but he did it quietly and without recognition,” Sissons said. “With these scholarships, we are able to put his name on a program that reflects his values of hard work, generosity and community support.”
The scholarship is designed to support high-achieving students and provides funding for tuition, fees and other university-related expenses.
New awards will be given in the fall to one first-year student enrolling full-time who demonstrates economic need but does not otherwise qualify for financial aid. The scholarship may be renewed annually for up to three additional years, provided the student remains enrolled and maintains a GPA of 2.7 or higher.
“Philanthropic investment where we live and work is key to lifting up our communities and the friends and neighbors who live there,” University President Timothy Sams said in the news release.
“The Sissons scholarship fund represents well the history of quiet caring that Jeffrey Sissons showed across his life and career,” Sams added. “His legacy now continues on by making higher education available to the best and brightest from Westbury and New Cassel.”
The college foundation’s Board of Trustees Chair Nora Bassett said in the news release that this “remarkable gift will open doors for deserving young people who dream of going to college but may lack the financial means. We are honored to carry forward the memory of Jeffrey Sissons through the success of these scholars.”
The university announced on Monday that the first scholarship awardee is Alexa Santiago Munoz, a first-year biochemistry major from New Cassel who hopes to become a physician, but was wary about taking on debt.
“This scholarship is helping me build a future as a doctor that I hope will improve the lives of those who come from communities like mine,” Santiago Munoz said in the news release. “I am already thinking about ways to make sure I open doors for others the way this opportunity opened a door for me.”
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Adina Genn
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