SFC Charter Award Dinner 2025

Charter Award Dinner 2025: Celebrating A Legacy of Service, A Future of Impact
 

We invite you to join an evening of celebration and community spirit at the St. Francis College Charter Award Dinner on Thursday, May 1, 2025, at Giando on the Water. For more than 60 years, the Charter Award Dinner has been SFC's premier fundraising gala, creating new opportunities for student success and raising critically needed funds for the College's highest priorities.

This year, we are proud to honor Frank Siller, Chairman and CEO of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation, whose dedication to service and philanthropy embodies the Franciscan values at the core of St. Francis College.

On Frank's behalf, the Charter Award will be presented to Sal Cassano, the 32nd Fire Commissioner in the 151-year history of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), in recognition of his outstanding leadership and unwavering commitment to public service. The event's Emcee will be Christine Persichette, Anchor of Currents News.

As a tribute to the honorees, the NYPD Jazz Band is pleased to feature a special performance during the cocktail reception.

Join us for a delightful evening filled with delicious food, lively conversations, and inspiring stories of the best that NYC has to offer. Your presence and support make a real difference in our mission to uplift and empower the next generation. Let's come together and make memories that will last a lifetime.

Schedule of Events
6 p.m. - Cocktail Hour
7 p.m. - Dinner and Formal Program

2025 Charter Award Dinner Honoree

FRANK SILLER, Chairman & CEO, Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation

Frank Siller has served as Chairman and CEO of the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation since its inception.

Siller, an entrepreneur, was the owner of several businesses including a retail operation and home building company. One of the great joys in his life was having his younger brother Stephen learning the trade and working with him. Although Stephen became a member of the FDNY in 1995, like many firefighters, he found himself juggling two jobs to support his young family, and there was no better place to work than by his older brother's side.

While visiting Sgt Brendan Morocco, the first-ever surviving quadruple amputee, at Walter Reed Hospital, Siller tapped into his extensive home-building experience and offered to build Morocco a mortgage-free home. Siller was compelled to help Morocco reclaim his independence, founding the Tunnel to Towers Smart Home Program in the process.

For almost two decades, he has been serving our nation's heroes, the veterans and first responders that risk their lives to protect us. To date, the Foundation has spent over $250 million to honor and support our first responders and veterans and their families.

Siller was named Honorary Battalion Chief by FDNY Commissioner Salvatore Cassano in 2010 and was the recipient of the Department of the Army Commanders Award for Public Service in 2015. This is the fourth highest honor United States Department of the Army can bestow upon a civilian. He received the NYPD's Holy Name Society Presidents Award in 2015 and in 2019 was named the Police Benevolent Association's Person of the Year and was awarded the Christopher Leadership Award for "the invaluable aid he brings to catastrophically injured veterans, first responders and Gold Star Families."

In 2020, Siller was honored in a special Presidential Recognition Ceremony at the White House by President Donald J. Trump for the Foundation's work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Frank and his army of volunteers have delivered food to firehouses and police stations and more all across New York and New Jersey," President Trump said. "You have a lot of people that are very thankful, Frank. I've heard a lot about it. First responders and health care workers who have tragically lost their lives in the fight against the virus."

President Trump continued, "Frank, I want to thank you for continuing to support our nation's heroes and, again, your family and your brother is very proud of you looking down."

"We follow the teachings of St. Francis of Assisi, who said, 'Brothers and sisters, while you are here, while you have time, let us do good,'" Siller said. "That is our guiding. It's what we strive to do every single day: do good. Not just in memory of my brother, but all those who perished in 9/11 and those who have perished ever since - those that have given us this great country, like the frontline healthcare workers who are willing to die for you and me today."

Siller and his wife Patricia are the proud parents of three children and grandparents of seven grandchildren and live in Staten Island, NY.

2025 Charter Award Presentation

SALVATORE J. CASSANO, 32* Fire Commissioner, New York City Fire Department (FDNY)

Salvatore J. Cassano served as the 32* Fire Commissioner in the 151-year history of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), leading the United States' largest fire department with more than 16,000 fire, EMS and civilian members, and an annual budget of $1.6 billion. Commissioner Cassano spent over 44 years in the FDNY and held every uniformed rank prior to his appointment by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in January, 2010. Commissioner Cassano served as the FDNY's Chief of Department - the highest-ranking uniformed officer - from 2006 through 2010, overseeing many of the agency's most important bureaus including Fire and EMS Operations, Training, Safety, Fire Prevention and Communications. From 2001 to 2006, he served as Chief of Operations - a position to which he was appointed immediately after Sept. 11, 2001. Both as Chief of Operations and Chief of Department, Commissioner Cassano played a crucial role in rebuilding the Department in the wake of Sept. 1 and the loss of 343 members of the Department. In the years that followed, more than 6,800 new firefighters were hired and more than 6,000 others were promoted to various officer ranks as the Department went through a difficult but remarkable resurgence. Under his leadership, the FDNY became better equipped, trained and prepared than ever before in its history, and achieved unprecedented success with the fewest civilian fire fatalities ever and the fastest response times on record.

Commissioner Cassano's career with the FDNY began with his appointment as a firefighter on Nov. 29, 1969. He steadily rose through the ranks with promotions to lieutenant (August 1977), captain (April 1984), battalion chief (August 1987), deputy chief(June 1993), deputy assistant chief (November 1999) and assistant chief (April 2001).Five times during his career he was cited for bravery. Prior to joining the FDNY, Commissioner Cassano served in the U.S. Army from October1965 through July 1967 and was deployed to Vietnam in September 1966.While a firefighter, he attended John Jay College of Criminal Justice and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Fire Science. Commissioner Cassano also received an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from St. John's University in May, 2013. 

In September 2009, Commissioner Cassano was awarded France's highest decoration, the Legion D'Honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Commissioner Cassano grew up in Brooklyn and is a lifelong resident of New York City. He and his wife, Theresa, reside in Staten Island. They have five children and nine grandchildren. 

2025 Charter Award Dinner Emcee

Christine Persichette, Anchor, Currents News | DeSales Media Group

Christine Persichette is the anchor of Currents News. She joined the team in February of 2020 right before the pandemic shut down the nation. Christine spent the next two years reporting on the crisis and the church's response to it. Viewers look forward to watching her monthly series "Pulse of the Parish", a segment airing on Currents News that features Catholics in the Diocese of Brooklyn who make extraordinary contributions to their parishes. Before joining DeSales Media, Christine was the morning anchor at FiOS 1 News. Prior to that, she spent 10 years as a general assignment reporter for Fox 5 and My 9 News. Christine grew up in St. Rita's Parish in Long Island City and went to St. Francis Prep High School. She is now a parishioner at St. Francis of Assisi in Rockland County where she and her husband are the marriage prep coordinators. Christine is an Emmy-nominated anchor and reporter, but her greatest accomplishments are her 3 boys.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Text-to Give

DENIS J. '75 & JOANNE SALAMONE

Dinner and Dance

EDWARD N. '68 & JO-ANN CONSTANTINO

THOMAS AND ANITA VOLPE

Red Carpet and Cocktail

PATRICK DUGAN