Honoring a 9/11 Legacy: How One Family Turned Tragedy Into $130K in Student Scholarships

Turning Loss into Hope: The 25-Year Legacy of Neil G. Shastri

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Midland Park NJ, On a bright Tuesday morning in September 2001, 25-year-old Neil G. Shastri was just starting a brand-new chapter of his life. Neil, who grew up in Ho-Ho-Kus , married only three months earlier to his college sweetheart, he had recently moved into a New York City apartment and was two weeks into his role as an IT consultant for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 103rd floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower.

When tragedy struck, Neil’s final words to his wife during a brief phone call were that smoke was filling the tower and making it hard to breathe before the line abruptly went dead.

In the quarter-century since that devastating day, Neil’s family has channeled their grief into a powerful instrument of hope and educational opportunity for student-athletes and scholars across New Jersey.

$130,000 Awarded to Midland Park High School Graduates

Following his passing, Neil’s twin brother Jay, older brother Umang, and their family established the Neil G. Shastri Foundation Annual Scholarship at Midland Park Jr./Sr. High School, where Neil and his brothers graduated.

Unlike typical awards centered solely on GPA, this scholarship measures what mattered most to Neil: character, warmth, and dedication to helping others.

• Character Over Academics: The foundation recognizes graduates who demonstrate exceptional community service and interpersonal connection.

• Impact by the Numbers: Over the past 25 years, nearly 60 Midland Park High School graduates have received scholarship awards totaling approximately $130,000.

• Annual Tradition: Each year during senior dinner, two to four graduating seniors receive up to $2,000 each to assist with their higher education expenses.

“Out of the two of us, I was the more studious one,” recalled twin brother Dr. Jay Shastri. “Neil was more about connection. He would befriend people quite easily… We wanted to put a value in community service, giving back to others.”

Expanding Beyond Bergen County: The Rutgers Future Scholars Endowment

As the foundation grew, the Shastri family—all proud Rutgers University alumni—expanded their philanthropic vision to aid underrepresented communities.

Marking 25 years since the attacks, the foundation funded a $50,000 endowment for the Rutgers Future Scholars program, a initiative supporting first-generation, promising middle and high school students from Camden, Newark, New Brunswick, Piscataway, and Rahway.

In addition to financial aid, the foundation’s all-volunteer board regularly organizes:

• Volunteer initiatives with the Community Food Bank of New Jersey in Hillside.

• Direct book donations and classroom material funding via DonorsChoose for schools in Paterson, Passaic, and Jersey City.

• Annual remembrance gatherings, replacing their traditional charity golf outing with a 25th-anniversary banquet titled “United in Memory, Inspired by Light” in Jersey City.

“Neil had a magnetic, charismatic personality and just naturally connected with people—that was his superpower,” shared older brother Umang Shastri. “Our friends and family have achieved a level of professional success that puts us in a position to give back even more to our community… helping us channel our grief in a positive way.”