Our Reason for Being…

In Memory of Christopher, with Love

Following in the footsteps of his Firefighter father, Christopher Santora was a member of Engine 54/Ladder 4 for only 2 months before he lost his life tragically on 9/11. Before he signed up for the FDNY Fire Academy, he’d already followed in the footsteps of his mother as a teacher in the NYC Public School system. No grass grew under his feet, as they say. Christopher had a certain, special “something.”

In memory and celebration of Christopher and the special person he was, the Firefighter Christopher Santora Educational Scholarship Fund is dedicated to the continuing education of young American students from all walks of life who have something special about them as well.

We award scholarships not based on school grades, or recommendations, or academic successes. In fact, we never even know to whom we’re awarding the scholarships until we’ve determined the winners. So how do we pick our scholars?

Featured Items

The Day the Towers Fell

“The Day the Towers” Fell was written to help explain what happened on September 11, 2001. This book tries to explain the horrors of 9/11 in a less graphic way. It was written with love by a 27–year NYC Public School teacher/childhood educator who is also the mother of one of the 343 Firefighters who lost their lives that day.

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My Son Christopher

“My Son Christopher” is the story of a mother’s unconditional love for her son. “No matter what he ever did I loved him because he was my son,” the author, Maureen Crethan Santora, explains.

Written for the 5–8 year old age group, this is a book that seeks to nurture and reassure, something all of our children can use more of.

“My Son Christopher” Video Promotion Now Online

Maureen Santora was recently in Los Angeles to promote her newest book, “We Remember,” a memorial of several of the Firefighters lost in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

She took some time to sit down with her book publisher, Xlibris, and record this promotional video for her previous book, “My Son Christopher.” Take a look…

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What’s New?

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Help Fight the Stripping of the Ranks from the 9/11 Memorial

A sample letter is included for you to send to the Mayor and Relevant Parties

…Recently the Foundation sent to the families a “Name Verification Packet”. The object of the packet was to give each family the chance to review how their loved ones name would appear on the Memorial wall (balcony?, edge?) Upon reviewing it, we realized that we could have our brother, FDNY Captain William F. Burke, Jr, Engine 21 listed any way we wanted as long as it wasn’t “Captain William F. Burke, Jr.” Ranks are not allowed…

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Ranks & Titles Being Stripped from 9/11 Memorial

The National September 11 Memorial and Museum Organization is fighting to remove all ranks & titles from the memorial

Please write a letter to let the National September 11 Memorial and Museum Organization in New York know that you, as an American citizen, want the ranks/title of our military, the firefighters, police officers and all who worked protecting and caring for Americans across our nation to be included with their name at the National Memorial site of the WTC in New York City.

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