Joanne Adams | Horse Racing Free Tips

Letter to the Editor: Jingle Bells Ring for the Backstretch Families!

The Belmont Child Care Association, Inc. (BCCA) annually hosts a Holiday Shopping Day for all of the families of backstretch workers at Belmont Park and Aqueduct Race Track. This year, BCCA held its event on Saturday, Dec. 3 in the clubhouse at Belmont Park. The Belmont Cafe was transformed into a Winter Wonderland which included a Sugar Plum Cafe and Holiday Shop. Thanks to the New York Racing Association (NYRA), BCCA was provided with a beautiful venue to host its event and NYRA's facilities and security departments provided much needed support on all levels.

This year, 500 children were escorted by elves who assisted them as they chose presents for themselves and for everyone in their families. Over 100 volunteers assisted the children while they shopped. Other elves helped to select merchandise for the Holiday Shop and personally baked treats for the Sugar Plum Cafe. Our children met elves at the wrapping station where they watched while their gifts were prepared.

The shopping experience was complete when they stopped to visit Santa in the Reindeer Court. Santa was assisted by elves as the children received candy canes, took photos, and told Santa what was on their wish list. The day was filled with smiling faces as the children and elves sang along with the carols playing in the lobby and in the shop.

This event day was made possible thanks to the incredibly generosity of donors who participated in BCCA's call-to-action at its annual Racing for the Children dinner and auction, held each year in Saratoga Springs in late August. The funds raised that evening were used to purchase new coats, vests, sweaters, robes, kitchen appliances, beauty accessories, and tool boxes, to name a few. BCCA received donations of new toys thanks to a new partnership with Jazwares Inc. through their philanthropic arm, Jazwares Cares, in addition to donations from the U.S. Marines Toys for Tots Foundation with whom BCCA has shared a long-lasting partnership.

BCCA's volunteers are essential to the success of the event beginning with the planning stage, set-up day, day of event operations, and clean up and break down. BCCA recognizes all its volunteers from the Thoroughbred racing industry and its bountiful group of volunteers from the National Charity League, New York Chapter of Garden City.

This year, as BCCA celebrates 20 years of providing an early childhood education and development program for children year-round at Anna House and during the summer race meet at Faith's House at Saratoga Race Course, 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.

We invite you to Think BIG for BCCA because when we come together, we can make a great impact on the lives of our children and their families. To join our year-end appeal, please visit us at www.belmontchildcare.org.

The mission of the Belmont Child Care Association, Inc. (BCCA) is to provide a safe, supportive, and academically inspiring environment for the children of parents working in the Thoroughbred racing backstretch area located at New York's historic Belmont Park, Aqueduct Racetrack, and Saratoga Race Course. We are committed to promoting early childhood education, molding young minds, and encouraging the fulfillment of dreams.

Joanne K. Adams is the Executive Director of the Belmont Child Care Association, Inc. (BCCA), a 501 c 3 organization.

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TERF Awards $10,000 To BCCA

The Thoroughbred Education and Research Foundation (TERF) will award the Belmont Child Care Association, Inc. (BCCA) $10,000 to be used for educational purposes in 2023. The mission of the BCCA is to provide a safe, supportive, and academically inspiring environment for children of parents working in the Thoroughbred racing backstretch area located at New York's historic Belmont Park, Aqueduct Racetrack, and Saratoga Race Course.

“What makes BCCA so unique is that we are changing lives at the racetrack every day,” said Executive Director Joanne K. Adams. “For the past 20 years, we've provided a state-of-the-art child care center, Anna House, at Belmont Park which is open 365 days a year and offers a STEAM-based curriculum for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old. Last year, we opened Faith's House at Saratoga Race Course which fulfilled our dream of providing a year-round program at Belmont Park and a summer program at Saratoga.”

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Virtual Learning Allows Belmont Child Care Association To ‘Double Down’ On Its Mission

It has been a full day for school-age children headed home on a recent afternoon from Anna House, the childcare and early-childhood education facility at Belmont Park designed for the families of backstretch workers.

In normal times, these students would be attending class at their local grade schools. But with the help of several grants secured by the Belmont Child Care Association, Inc. (BCCA), which oversees the operation at Anna House, they're part of a new virtual learning program in which grade-school children of backstretch workers are attending school at Anna House by using a combination of remote learning and in-person teaching.

Welcome to one of the feel-good stories of early education in the pandemic era. At a time when many educational institutions continue to face a range of coronavirus-related challenges, Anna House has actually expanded its offerings for the children of backstretch workers like the remote learning class, since its June reopening.

“During this time of education and internet inequality, our virtual learning program allows us to 'double down' on our mission to give these children a great head start and to do so safely,” says Joanne K. Adams, BCCA Executive Director. “BCCA built out its toolkits to offer a state-of-the-art virtual learning program, balanced by in-person teaching, which allows us to support our students who are disproportionately impacted by remote learning.”

The BCCA program places Kindergarten through fifth graders into learning pods of up to 10 students each. Sitting at least six feet apart around the classroom, students use iPads and earphones for the virtual lessons for their core subjects. They receive a hot lunch, as well as in-person one-on-one, after-school tutoring.

The remote learning program was set up in coordination with local school districts. As with all the classes at Anna House, it also utilizes the most up-to-date health guidance and safety protocols established by the New York State Department of Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (C.D.C.) and BCCA's educational consultant, Bright Horizons, to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Anna House has expanded its offerings in other ways as well since reopening on June 22 after being closed for more than three months. Through another grant, pre-school children in daycare are now enrolled in a remote-learning music and arts program. BCCA's Women's Literacy English classes for the mothers of the children attending Anna House, formerly held in-person, are now featured via Zoom.

Since reopening, Anna House has been operating with safety top of mind. To combat the spread of COVID-19, all teachers and staff wear masks. There is strict adherence to social distancing, and rules for dropping off and picking up the children, who are walked in and out of the building each morning and afternoon by a staffer. Lunches come pre-packaged and the children sit apart while eating. The playground is disinfected after each use.

If a lot is different at the building just inside Gate 6 on the spacious grounds at Belmont Park, the look and atmosphere at Anna Hose endures. It remains a bright, airy place, where the children's artwork decorate the walls of the atrium. The school garden, where the children plant flowers, is again flourishing, while the classrooms, as always, offer a warm, welcoming feel.

“The families of these children, the backstretch workers, are the unsung heroes of this pandemic, people who kept working when COVID-19 was at its most extreme in New York,” says BCCA President Libby Imperio. “By innovating to give our best to their children, we're giving to a population that have really dealt with a lot this year. We owe them so much.”

While Anna House was closed because of the pandemic, BCCA staff remained active in helping families on the backstretch. They mounted a drive to collect supplies for the children. Adams also worked with United Way of Long Island through its United Together Response Fund for COVID-19 to distribute donated gift cards, totaling more than $30,000 in value, to all backstretch workers at Belmont Park.

Also, the BCCA hosted its annual fundraiser online during the week-long “Racing for the Children” virtual party in early August during the Saratoga summer meet. The virtual format, which served as a temporary substitute for BCCA's annual dinner, featured video messages from racing personalities, a premium auction and recipes from Saratoga Springs restaurants, among other interactive elements.

All proceeds from the “Racing for the Children” party support the BCCA's mission to care for the children and families of the backstretch as well as the forthcoming Saratoga Child Care Center, now under construction on the Saratoga backstretch near the Rec Center, which is set to debut in 2021.

Adams says the resumption of classes, the continued community programs, and particularly the remote learning program at Anna House, have served to strengthen the bonds with backstretch families during this challenging time.

BCCA Board Chairman and co-founder Michael Dubb said the reopening of Anna House along with its expanded educational offerings are important steps forward for backstretch workers, who kept fulfilling their duties, often at considerable personal risk, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We can't ever repay the backstretch workers for their contributions to our sport, especially during the pandemic,” says Dubb. “What we can continue to do is find new ways of attending to the well-being of their children. Helping their kids makes our industry and sport stronger.”

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Anna House Set to Reopen June 22

The Belmont Child Care Association (BCCA) is set to reopen its Belmont Park daycare center Anna House June 22 with strict new safety protocols in place. The childcare and early-childhood education facility designed for the families of backstretch workers, most of whom are based at Belmont Park, has been closed since Mar. 17 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Teachers and staff at the facility are currently undergoing training on the new protocols, which will utilize the health guidance established by the New York State Department of Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (C.D.C.) and BCCA’s educational consultant, Bright Horizons, to combat the spread of COVID-19.

The facility will also incorporate opportunities for distance learning and at-home instruction.

“Virtual learning is a part of the ‘new norm,’ and we are committed to providing our children with the support they need to achieve success in school,” BCCA Executive Director Joanne K. Adams said.

While Anna House was closed, BCCA staff organized a drive to collect supplies for infants and toddlers who attend its education facility. Adams also worked with United Way of Long Island through its United Together Response Fund for COVID-19 to distribute donated gift cards, totaling more than $30,000 in value, to all backstretch workers at Belmont Park.

“Giving a solid head start to the children at Anna House is critically important to the whole ecosystem of the racetrack,” BCCA Board Chairman and co-founder Michael Dubb said. “Backstretch workers are the unsung heroes of the racing world. Helping their kids helps them and makes our industry and sport a lot stronger. It’s great to be getting back to what we do best.”

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