Happy Valentine's Day from BCCA!

Teaching our students the importance of giving back is a vital part of our curriculum. Extraordinary things happen here because we believe that every child is capable of being extraordinary every day!

Our annual Valentine's Day tradition at Anna House is to create homemade cards for the children at the Ronald McDonald House - New York Metro. This year, our students also shared the love with St. Mary's Hospital for Children.

Our child care provider, Bright Horizons, utilizes the HEART principles of Honesty, Excellence, Accountability, Respect, and Teamwork to guide us in the work we do every day. Our HEART principles are the foundation of our culture and how we interact with one another. It is through our Valentine's Day cards that BCCA reinforces how essential it is to be respectful and compassionate towards everyone around you.

BCCA is so grateful for the long-standing partnership we have with the Ronald McDonald House Charities and we welcome our new partnership with St. Mary's Hospital for Children.

Help us continue to Think BIG for BCCA by making your donation today!

Little Chefs: Lots of Nutrition

Our students have had the best time over the last few months with our Little Chefs program! Each week, a new recipe is selected for Anna House, and our children work together to perfect it.

The program kicked off with cream cheese roll-ups: each student cut their tortilla into four equal pieces, spread cream cheese in an even layer, then topped it off with raisins and ground cinnamon, before rolling it into a log.

The next week, Victoria is pictured here mixing together the batter for apple cinnamon oatmeal breakfast bars. With large chunks of fresh, ripe apples, a hint of sweetness from the honey and cinnamon, and the crunch of whole-grain oats, they were a hearty winter treat.

Perhaps the most popular recipe so far, last week’s stuffed peppers were a big hit! Each class practiced their chopping skills, spread on marinara sauce, and added as much cheese and pepperoni as their stomach’s desired. Our infant class demonstrated excellent dexterity and improvement in their fine motor skills, spilling very little cheese on the ground!

Our school-age group’s only complaint was that there were not enough for seconds! They all agreed that this is a recipe they are excited to share with their families and make at home. While enjoying their pizzas, the class made a list of possible toppings to add for next time.

Our most recent culinary adventure was avocado toast. This week’s topic of discussion was how small swaps can increase nutrition tremendously, like the type of bread you use. They also talked about the different kinds of fats, and how avocado is a type of healthy fat that helps your body.

BCCA Blooms as we focus on the importance of establishing and maintaining healthy eating habits, to continue our goal of Nourishing Mind · Nourishing Body · Nourishing Family.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM ANNA HOUSE TO YOUR HOUSE!

Cookies with Santa

BCCA is grateful to Lt. Triolo of NYRA Security for reprising his role as Santa and surprising all the children at Anna House at our annual Cookies with Santa! Each year, our children write letters to Santa.

Special thanks to Northwell Health for partnering with BCCA to complete each child's wish list!

The team at Northwell Health shopped, wrapped, and delivered presents for each child.

We are so grateful for this incredible partnership!

This year, Santa stopped to read one of his favorite stories, Cookies with Santa!

Jingle Bells Ring for the Backstretch Families!

BCCA was thrilled to host our Annual Holiday Shopping event this year on Saturday, December 2 at Anna House! Our center was transformed into a Winter Wonderland which included a Sugar Plum Cafe and Holiday Shop. Over 300 children from the backstretch families of Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack lined up to “shop” for their relatives. Numerous volunteers from the local community acted as “elves” taking each child around to pick out the perfect gift.

Thank you to one of our most dedicated Christmas elves, Nick Caras, for driving the families and volunteers to and from Anna House and the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) for donating the NYRA shuttle for the event. A special thank you to Lt. Triolo for reprising his role as Santa!

This cherished event would not be possible without our generous supporters and BCCA would like to extend an extra special thank you to the following organizations who helped us spread the Christmas cheer: NYRA, USMC Toys for Tots, Northwell Health, Jazwares Cares, National Charity League, Inc. (Garden City Chapter), and Floral Park Memorial National Honor Society.

Celebrating our Women's Literacy Program

BCCA is grateful for the women in our community to dedicating themselves to improve their English. To kick-off the holiday season, BCCA celebrated the women in our program with a trip to the ballet to see a very special performance of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center in New York City. Our mothers were joined by BCCA Executive Director, Joanne K. Adams.

BCCA hosted our mothers for a festive holiday luncheon at Anna House to cap off the season!

Be Transformative!

BCCA is grateful to our donors for their incredible support of our most important programs. The generosity of our donors allows us to fulfill our commitment to the families of the backstretch workers with the knowledge that their children will receive a great start toward a better future. You really can’t put a price on giving a child a great start in life and a gift of any size matters.

HAppy thanksGIVING from anna house to your house!

BCCA is so grateful for our community partners, supporters, and friends. It is because of YOU that we were able to make this Thanksgiving a special one!

BCCA thanks the National Charity League - Garden City Chapter and the Junior League of Long Island for their partnership and generous donations of Thanksgiving bundles for our Anna House children, families, and staff!

BCCA celebrates Halloween with a

Fall Festival at Anna House!

Look who stopped by … Wednesday Addams!

BCCA was thrilled to welcome Northwell Health to Anna House to distribute

healthy and delicious treats to our children and their families!

Each family stopped to create a leaf with their child before heading home with their goodies.

Learning to express yourself through art is an important part of the curriculum here at Anna House and one of our favorite ways to do so is by decorating our classroom doors! Throughout the month of October, our students worked together to come up with a theme for their door and they were thrilled to finally reveal the finished project in the week leading up to Halloween.

Take a look below to see our 2023 Spooktacular Doors of Anna House!

BCCA Celebrates National hispanic heritage month!

Recognizing National Hispanic Heritage Month is important to BCCA.

As many of our students come from Hispanic backgrounds,

they are proud to share their family heritage with one another.

Belle came to Anna House dressed in different traditional outfits!

Our younger students celebrated throughout the month by reading

some of their favorite bilingual books by Hispanic authors.

Our school-age students identified each Hispanic country and flag,

then shared their nationality with the group,

and finished by practiced writing the country name and drawing the corresponding flag.

Summer Break with BCCA

This summer has been packed with surprises for our children!

In between field trips and visitors for Storytime, our students took full advantage of our expanded outdoor area to beat the heat. Jonathan led our school-age group in an all-out water experience, including a snake sprinkler and foam squirt blasters!

Our school-age students ventured out to Bee’s Arts and Crafts Studio. Each child chose their own special project. Isaac decided to work on a train, adding all of his favorite colors, while Melissa painted a ceramic M to decorate her bedroom!

In July, our school-age students took a trip to the Long Island Aquarium. They had a great time learning about the different kinds of seals, especially watching the grey seal and Western Atlantic Harbor seal play with their toys!

Anna House had two visits from Platinum Plus Mobile Gaming. First, a laser tag tournament for our school-age students was set up in our brand-new school-age playground! Each round was more competitive than the last, and our students excelled in their communication and teamwork skills. Then, we had a visit from the Game truck and Glam truck! Everyone had a chance to play their favorite video games, practice their skills on new games, and pamper themselves with a manicure. The day didn’t end until everyone celebrated with a pizza party lunch!

As our needs grow year after year, we expand our programs! Faith’s House, which just completed its third year of operation, addressed the need and offered a new school-age program during the summer race meet. Prior to opening this past summer, BCCA worked to make the necessary modifications, license a school-age classroom, and create a second playground for our school-age students at Faith’s House.

BCCA’s Storytime continued this summer at both Anna House and Faith’s House. Chris Carpenter, former professional baseball player, Pam Abrams, BCCA Advisory Board Member and author, and Maggie Wolfendale Morley, NYRA Racing Analyst, stopped in to read at Faith’s House.

Our children at Anna House received Storytime visits from our very first graduate, Jonathan, as well as Xochilt, one of our earliest graduates, and Javier Castellano, Hall of Fame Jockey and Winner of the 2023 Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, and Travers Stakes.

Our children at Faith’s House also benefitted from our partnership with the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). Along with their families, they were given tickets to see the New York City Ballet perform three classics: Swan Lake, Fancy Free, and Firebird, and experience the Philadelphia Orchestra perform “Earth: An HD Odyssey”.

The new school year has officially begun, and we are so excited to watch our students thrive in new environments and teach us new things!

BCCA Can Do and We Did!

We are thrilled to share that our Racing for the Children blockbuster event was record-breaking for BCCA and sold out for the second year in a row!

BCCA President, Libby Imperio, made the presentation to our 2023 Honoree, the iconic Barbara R Banke.

"I think that Anna House and Faith’s House are wonderful. Thank you to BCCA for coming together to assist our backstretch workers and families." - Barbara R Banke

BCCA Chairman, Michael Dubb, presented BCCA's Humanitarian Award to Larry, Leslie, and Randy Sarf of LSU Stables.

"We are very proud and love being a part of BCCA. We look forward to continuing to support its mission and the wonderful programs they provide for the children." - Larry Sarf

Thank you for your unwavering support and generosity!

Remembering Herb Moelis

The Herb Moelis Memorial Saratoga Special Stake Race was held on August 12 at Saratoga Race Course. Herb and his wife, Ellen Moelis, founded the Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA) and the Thoroughbred Education and Research Foundation (T.E.R.F.) and BCCA is a proud grantee of both organizations.

BCCA Executive Director, Joanne K. Adams, attended the memorial trophy presentation and the group connected with Marleny, an Anna House graduate who is interning for NYRA in the 1863 Club this summer. Marleny is a junior at Schuylerville High School and has an interest in studying nursing when she goes to college.

Pictured L to R: Erin Crady, TCA Executive Director, Ellen Moelis, Marleny, Joanne K. Adams, BCCA Executive Director, and Dottie Bagnato, BCCA Bookkeeper.

BCCA Summer Carnival!

The BCCA Summer Carnival was a huge success! From cotton candy, popcorn, and hot dogs, to cornhole, face painting, and a magic show, there was something special for everyone to enjoy, regardless of age.

Sempre Fame BBQ assisted us in providing everyone with hot dogs, hamburgers, and all the fixings. We also provided hot, fresh-popped popcorn from a genuine old-school popcorn machine!

Mister Softee stopped by to supply delicious ice cream for everyone! Who can say no to soft serve with extra sprinkles? We sure can’t! And for those who don’t ‘scream for ice cream’, Ms. Joanne made sure there was a cookie and a cupcake at the ready. No-one left without dessert on her watch!

Some special guests made an appearance, including Rainbow Sprinkles, who masterfully painted our children’s faces into a wide array of designs.

Some of our school-age students had an impromptu cornhole tournament, while others assisted the younger students in practicing their throws. A few of our students even had their own dance party – we had to get the wiggles out somehow!

Each child received a unique summer fun basket, courtesy of the National Charity League – Garden City Chapter. We are so grateful for the mother-daughter teams that joined us to volunteer! The mother-daughter duos have served as after-school program tutors and mentors, and they have included project driven teams to provide much needed support to our students and their families.

Volunteers from the Hance Family Foundation joined us to provide our mothers and school-age children with giveaway cosmetic baskets, and small treats for our younger children. They were a huge hit! Visit @selfesteemrising on social media to learn more about their incredible program.

We can’t wait to see you all next summer!

pizza party with Mr. ken!

July is full of smiles here at Anna House! We were so fortunate to have another of our occasional pizza visits by Mr. Ken, otherwise known as Ken Adams, husband of our Executive Director, Joanne K. Adams.

Outside of his real job, Ken is a dedicated pizza baker, so the news that he’d be visiting was met with much excitement by our school-age kids!

Two kinds of pizza were on offer. First, Ken had our kitchen oven “ready to go” for two Detroit-style pies—think pizza meets focaccia, with a crazy caramelized edge to the crust. He used special pans and a steel slab, to ensure that crisp crust.

Then he set up shop outside Anne House and cranked out six 16-inch New Haven-style pies—think a crunchier, slightly charred version of a regular New York-style pie. It required a carload of gear, including an Ooni pizza oven, a cart for the oven, a folding steel table, three kinds of pizza peel, and two dough boxes. The ingredients were straightforward: dough balls he made two days ago, using organic high-gluten flour; a simple tomato sauce; and two kinds of mozzarella.

The kids observed the process—for Detroit-style pizza, adding yet more cheese cubes on top of a dough that already contained plenty of cheese, and adding stripes of tomato sauce after the pizza came out of the oven. For the other pies, he baked them first in a preheated 750°F Ooni oven with the flame off, then reignited the flame, and during both stages turned the pie regularly to ensure even baking.

The kids listened to Ken intently, and a good time was had by all, including BCCA staff, who swooped in to dispatch the extra pizzas after the kids had had their fill.

Joking aside, Ken’s visit was consistent with BCCA’s mission—to expose kids to the world of possibilities in even the most basic of activities.

Thank you Mr. Ken! We are so grateful for your incredible generosity and support.

You are the MVPP (Most Valuable Pizza Person)!