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Children "Unwrap" New Kitchen at Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester
Kisco Kids Café Previewed at the Club's Annual Holiday Party
Mt. Kisco, NY (December 23, 2008) – Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester members received a sneak-peak of the Mt. Kisco Center's new Kisco Kids Café at the Club's annual holiday party. The Café, scheduled to open in Spring 2009, will provide hot meals and nutrition classes for Club members.
The Kisco Kids Café initiative recognizes the needs of the changing membership at the Boys & Girls Clubs Mt. Kisco facility. Approximately 50% of members are Hispanic, primarily from very low-income families. Many of the children rely on the Club for after-school nutrition and do not eat a hot meal at home after they leave the Club.
Over the next year, the Club will begin feeding 150 children daily at the Mt. Kisco Center. Within three years, they will serve 500 children daily. In addition to providing healthy snacks and meals, the Kisco Kids Café will also serve as a teaching facility to host cooking and nutrition classes for Club members and their families, and for introducing youth to potential careers in the culinary arts.
Additional funding is currently being sought to operate and supply the new food service program, which will cost approximately $100,000 annually.
"Many of the Club's Mt. Kisco members come from homes where serving hot, nutritious meals is a challenge," said Brian Skanes, Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester. "We have already seen the difference a hot supper has made in many of our Tarrytown members' participation and achievement. We look forward to making the same a reality for our Mt. Kisco members."
The Club's "Kitchen Cabinet" committee is led by board member Shelley Waln and includes Board Vice President Tom O'Brien and President Skip Beitzel; board members Kim Ainley, Leslie Cecil, and Jill Lawrence; and community volunteers Erik Kaeyer of KG&D Architects, who donated his architectural and design services; and Ladle of Love/Café of Love owner Leslie Lampert, who helped with the kitchen design and will help develop the future curriculum.
The Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester is located at 351 Main Street, Mount Kisco, NY and can be reached at (914) 666-8069 or www.bgcnw.org.
About the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester
The Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester was established in 1939 as a place for "boys to get off the streets." It is a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring and enabling young people, especially those who need it most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens. The main unit in Mt. Kisco, NY is a 36,000-square-foot facility featuring an eight-lane pool, Child Care Center, gymnasium, games room, two computer labs and an additional 1,600-foot Teen Center facility. The Club has two satellite programs: a youth and teen center in the Yorktown Community Center; and a full service program at The Community Opportunity Center in Tarrytown, NY. The Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester serves 5,000 youths, boys and girls ages 6 months to 18 years, from more than 60 Northern Westchester communities. The Club has been ranked among the outstanding Clubs in the national network of Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Press Contact:
Kelly Lee
Co-Communications
914.666.0066
kelly@cocommunications.com
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