Bergen Community College Foundation Awards $421K in Scholarships

The Bergen Community College Foundation recently awarded $421,000 in scholarships to hundreds of area residents, the largest amount the foundation has given out to date. 

Among those recipients were four Hasbrouck Heights residents: Anna Barry who received the Red Fox Foundation Scholarship in the amount of $700; Janice Douglas who received the BCC General Scholars Scholarship in the amount of $1,000; Frank Fitzpatrick who received the Hackensack University Medical Center BSN Nursing Scholarship in the amount of $1,000 and Edward Francke who received the Dr. Richard D. Ciccone Endowed Scholarship in the amount of $2,500. 

“These scholarships have become extremely important to Bergen students,” said Philip Ciarco III, the master of ceremonies for the scholarship awards ceremony and a member of both the Foundation and the College’s Board of Trustees in a statemennt. “For some students, a Foundation scholarship means they will be able to work fewer hours at an outside job and better focus on their studies and completing their degrees. For many, however, a Foundation scholarship is the difference between being able to continue their education at Bergen or having to give in to financial pressures and abandon college altogether.” 

Ciarco thanked the many supporters whose generosity funds the foundation scholarship program. The foundation has collected more than $11 million since its inception in 1982. The foundation has been awarding scholarships for the past 13 years. 

In addition to funding scholarships, the foundation supports faculty and staff development, construction and other special projects and programs at Bergen.