Supporter Spotlights

Supporter Spotlight: Soles4Souls

“New shoes!” was the rallying cry

Girl tries on Converse shoes at Soles4Souls event at Head Start CoronaIt was an 80-degree summer day, but Tanya Krien was researching organizations that provide winter coats to children.

“Winter coats are always a huge need with our families,” Tanya, a vice president of early childhood education at The Child Center of NY, explains.

That’s when she came across Soles4Souls—a nonprofit organization that provides not winter coats, but footwear, which is another ever-present need for families with children in a Child Center early childhood education program, such as Head Start and Early Head Start. Continue reading

A Night with the NY Mets during Black History Month

Mets reps from the Black Professionals and LatinX Employee Resource Groups connect with Queens youth at our Basie Beacon program at M.S. 72

Introducing youth to new possibilities is a key way The Child Center of NY works to increase high school graduation rates — one of The Child Center’s central goals — and get young people excited about preparing for their future.

On February 5, The Child Center of NY collaborated with the NY Mets and the Queens District Attorney’s Office to host a career panel at our Basie Beacon Program at Catherine and Count Basie Middle School 72 in Jamaica. Continue reading

Supporter Spotlight: Rocco Sacramone

Clients receiving a frozen turkey.

 

Chef Rocco Sacramone at Trattoria L’incontro in Astoria.

The Child Center received a unique and generous donation just in time for the holidays from local restaurateur, Chef Rocco Sacramone.

The Child Center of NY is fortunate to have supporters who feel a special connection to our mission based on a variety of factors, from their desire to support their local community to their confidence in our results-based approach — and, always, their belief in our guiding principle: that every family and community deserves access to the skills, opportunities, and emotional support they need to build healthy, successful futures.

Late last year, The Child Center received a unique and generous donation just in time for the holidays from local restaurateur, Chef Rocco Sacramone.  

Clients receiving a frozen turkey.

Our clients truly felt the support of their community and enjoyed a special gift for the holidays.

Since 1999, Chef Sacramone’s family has run Trattoria L’incontro, an Italian eatery just 15 minutes from our Early Childhood Center in Astoria.

Every year, Chef Rocco donates frozen turkeys to various charities. Rocco and his team came across The Child Center of NY after a conversation with a customer at the restaurant. Upon learning about our work supporting children and families and our powerful community presence, they knew we were a perfect fit.

Chef Rocco graciously hand delivered 30 frozen turkeys to our Early Childhood Center in Astoria. His wife, Debbie, also sent a gift set of 100 stuffed animals for the children to take home. Thanks to their generous donation, our clients truly felt the support of their community and enjoyed a special gift for the holidays.

“We’ve been in the community all my life actually. My family came here in 1970 from Italy, we’ve always worked in Astoria,” Chef Rocco said. At the end of the day, everything is about the kids. When I saw the kids, that’s what it’s all about.”

Supporter Spotlight: Xun An Chia

Plushie penguins donated to The Child Center of NY

Plush penguins from Singapore find a home in NYC

Thank you, Xun and WT Partnerships, for this special delivery all the way from Singapore!

Brently Winstead, Development Associate at The Child Center of NY, and Xun An Chia of WT Partnership at our Forest Hills office

Plushie penguins donated to The Child Center of NY

At The Child Center of NY, we are fortunate to have generous donors who support our clients with various types of donations. Just last month, Xun An Chia of WT Partnership in Singapore reached out to The Child Center with a unique offer.

WT Partnership had a surplus of penguin plush toys from a charity event, and Xun wanted to find a home for them during a visit to New York. As a mental health advocate, Xun wanted to ensure the donation went to an organization that offers robust and comprehensive mental health services, particularly to children. When he learned about The Child Center and the families we serve, he got in touch with our Development Associate, Brently Winstead, who happily agreed to find homes for nearly 100 penguin plushies with children in our programs. And Xun, penguins in tow, traveled nearly 10,000 miles to place them in our hands.

Xun met with Brently at The Child Center’s headquarters in Forest Hills and, according to Xun, “One of the more thoughtful conversation topics that we had pertained to that of access to resources and help (support services, behavioral health services, etc.) and that sometimes the right to and even knowledge of the existence of such services may not trickle down to those who need it the most, sometimes simply due to the asymmetry of knowledge due to socioeconomic disparities. 

Another topic of conversation, Xun says, was that surprisingly, the plushies were actually quite difficult to give away. Brently was one of the few individuals who responded positively but it all worked out in the end. He continued, “Ultimately, seeing the box and its contents make it way to its intended destination made it all worth it — as was the journey tossing said boxes through various train station gantries from the airport, to carrying them close to a mile from the nearest train station to my place, which was truly an experience by itself.”

Thank you, Xun, for this extraordinarily special delivery all the way from Singapore! Continue reading

Supporter Spotlight: Ming Szeto

Ming Szeto and his family
Ming Szeto and his family

Ming Szeto with his daughter (left) and wife (center)

The Child Center of NY is fortunate to have supporters who feel a special connection to The Child Center based on a variety of factors, from their own childhood to their confidence in our results-based approach — and, always, their belief in our guiding principle: that every family and community deserves access to the skills, opportunities, and emotional support they need to build healthy, successful futures. In this Q&A, supporter Ming Szeto, president of US Pacific Transport, talks about how and why he has become one of The Child Center’s most dedicated supporters. Continue reading

Chobani, Visionary Sponsor of Our 2021 Backpack Drive, Spoons Out Happiness in Queens

Chobani & The Child Center of NY
Chobani spoons out happiness in Queens.

Chobani brought a truck full of drinkable yogurt and other products for students and parents to enjoy during dismissal.

As NYC students returned to classrooms this September, The Child Center of NY provided backpacks for families in need through our 2021 Backpack Drive. This year, with the help of our visionary sponsor, Chobani, we raised more than $84,000 and provided backpacks and school supplies for 4,000 students.

In addition to generously donating $25,000, Chobani visited our afterschool program in Elmhurst to distribute backpacks, school supplies, and snacks to local families. Continue reading


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