Alexa Santiago Munoz, who comes from a traditional Mexican family, said her parents always told her to strive for a better life. Now she no longer needs to worry about her and her family coming up with the money to pay for her college tuition.
Deer Park Recycling, a Westbury-based company, has committed $400,000 to establish a new scholarship program at SUNY Old Westbury that will provide 10 four-year scholarships, each with a maximum value of $40,000, to students from Westbury and New Cassel.
Named in memory of Deer Park Recycling’s founder, Jeffrey Sissons, who died in 2024, the Jeffrey M. Sissons Memorial Scholarship Fund was created through a donation made to the Old Westbury College Foundation Inc. at the direction of his son, Anthony. It honors the elder Sissons’ life, career and legacy of philanthropy.
The fund’s first award was made this fall to Alexa Santiago Munoz, a first-year biochemistry major from New Cassel.
Munoz is the first in her family to attend college and said she hopes to eventually go to medical school.
As a child growing up in a household where English is a second language, she said she developed an interest in medicine after regularly attending physician appointments with relatives to translate discussions and diagnoses, she said.
Munoz said that she knew going to college would be part of her path to becoming a doctor herself.
“I was really torturing myself mentally because I had worked really hard in high school, taking AP classes, doing all those extracurriculars, really just trying to solidify my chance to attend a college,” she said.
Munoz said she always knew she wanted to go to college and that it would also make her parents proud. She said she initially planned to leave Long Island, but after starting a new job and wanting to help take care of things at home, she decided to attend SUNY Old Westbury, just up the road.
Munoz said she also knew that it would be a difficult financial situation, with her likely needing to rely on loans to pay for schooling. She said she became emotional when she heard that the Sissons scholarship would alleviate some of that trouble.
“I dropped to my knees and started sobbing, because I was so thankful,” she said. “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.”
Munoz said she felt blessed not to have to put financial stress on her family, and said that her family has helped her throughout her academic journey so far.
Deer Park Recycling is among Long Island’s leading scrap metal recycling facilities, servicing customers throughout Long Island and New York City, and is based in Westbury, a community that members of the Sissons family said they value.
“Along with his work career, my father offered support to the community our company calls home, but he did it quietly and without recognition,” Anthony 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 $10,000 annual Sissons scholarship award supports high-achieving students who live in Westbury and New Cassel with funding to be used for tuition, fees and other expenses at the university.
The school said that new awards will be made to one new, first-year student enrolling for full-time study each fall who demonstrates financial need but otherwise does not qualify for financial aid. The scholarship can be renewed annually for up to three additional years, provided the students remain enrolled and maintain a grade point average of 2.7 or better, the school said.
“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 E. Sams said.
