4 New Jersey high school students to receive scholarships in honor of woman killed in 9/11 attacks

Some local high school seniors will soon be receiving graduation gifts with a lot of heart. Four scholarships will be handed out in honor of a South Jersey woman who died on 9/11.

"I never thought I wouldn't be growing old with Danielle, and I think that's the hardest part," said Eleni Kousoulis, who last saw her sister, Danielle, more than two decades ago. "Some days it feels like it's been forever, other days it feels like it was just yesterday."

Danielle Kousoulis graduated from Haddon Township High School in 1989. She majored in economics at Villanova University and went on to become a bond broker at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York City.

"She was very generous. She was very outgoing," Eleni Kousoulis said. "She always tried to make people feel better."

On Sept. 11, 2001, Danielle Kousoulis was trapped on the 104th floor of the North Tower as hijackers crashed two commercial airplanes into both towers of the World Trade Center.

Eleni Kousoulis says her sister called her boyfriend moments before the North Tower collapsed.

"She ended the conversation by saying, I have to go because other people need to use my cellphone so they can call their loved ones," she said, "so in that moment, she was thinking of other people and wanting them to be able to have final conversations with the people they loved."

To keep Danielle Kousoulis' caring and generous spirit alive, in 2002 her family started the Danielle Kousoulis Memorial Scholarship Fund, which provides academic scholarships to local high school seniors seeking higher education. 

Kyle Paolantonio and her sister, Zoe, were among the first recipients.

"It felt like a huge honor to receive that, almost like a legacy of Danielle, and feeling like having a piece of her with us in college," Paolantonio said.

Through donations, golf tournaments, and other fundraisers, the scholarship has grown over the years.

The Kousoulis family says since 2002, nearly 60 students have received scholarships, adding up to nearly $100,000. 

"So when they receive a scholarship with that name attached to it, I think it's even that much more of a push to know that they can keep going and keep achieving to fulfill their goals," Kevin Greway, the principal at Haddon Township High School, said.

Eleni Kousoulis says the scholarship is a meaningful way to help students financially, while also ensuring Danielle is never forgotten.

"It's very heartwarming and means a lot to our family that even all these years later, people are still supporting us, people are still supporting the scholarship fund," Eleni Kousoulis said.

Four recipients will each receive a $5,000 scholarship this year. The winners will be announced next week.