Open Letter to the Industry: You Can't Put a Price on Giving a Child a Great Start in Life

Change the first five years of a child's life and you change everything! BCCA's tag line is a familiar phrase we've all grown accustomed to seeing in public ads for local child care centers and private schools.

What makes BCCA so unique is that we are changing lives at the racetrack every day. 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.

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

Following graduation from Anna House at age 5, our students are prepared to enter local public schools at the same level as or above their peers. For years, we asked ourselves the question: What happens to these children when their parents need to arrive at the barns at 5 a.m.? How do they get to school and how does this affect the work schedules of their parents?

BCCA heard the call to action and, thanks to grant funding, our school-age program was created to offer our kids and their families a place to come in the early morning hours before and after school for enrichment and tutoring. We arranged for local school bus transportation and we expanded our programs and licensed two classrooms to accommodate the need.

Each year, we have watched our budget increase due to the expansion of our programs and the rising need of providing scholarships for our children, which cost on average $1,300/month per child. The high cost of child care is regularly reported and BCCA is affected by this with an annual budget of over $1 million to operate two child care centers. But we recognize that you really can't put a price on giving a child a great start in life.

If you have horses running on the New York circuit, then you have backstretch workers who care for your horses who are likely members of our families. Our incredibly successful program has been life-changing and sustained for many years thanks to the generous horsemen and women in our industry. BCCA seeks outside funding through family foundations, grants, individual and corporate donations, and special events.

Here's how you can help. Please consider a gift to BCCA.

On August 25^th, BCCA will host its annual Racing for the Children dinner and auction, Over the Rainbow with BCCA, honoring Marc and Sheree Holliday, at Universal Preservation Hall in downtown Saratoga Springs, New York, only two days before the Travers Stakes. 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 learn more about our event, please visit us at www.belmontchildcare.org.

Belmont Child Care Association, Inc. (BCCA) is a 501 c 3 organization.

Joanne K. Adams

Executive Director

Belmont Child Care Association, Inc. (BCCA)