The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Working Families

Mount Kisco Child Care Center Celebrates 20 Years of Feed Me Fresh

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Finding affordable childcare and early education has long been a complex math problem: Parents must navigate limited availability, high costs, and varying standards of care. And this is only one side of the equation. Working parents often are forced to choose between maintaining financial stability and staying home. However, a possible solution to this problem was established in 1971 at Mount Kisco Child Care Center.

“Because we understand the transformative power of equitable access to quality care and early education for children and families, MKCCC works hard to build awareness regarding the needs of the childcare industry and advocates on behalf of working families to increase access for all,” says Paula Backer, Director of Development. This non-profit childcare organization cares for over 145 children, ages three months to eleven years of age, in a 20,000-square-foot community-built facility. Beyond just a care center, MKCCC helps working families thrive by providing high-quality childcare and education through innovative, appropriate programming and a holistic approach to supporting family needs.

At the core of this exceptional organization are the teachers. Backer notes, “Their care and passion for what they do is evident the moment you step into a classroom.” These qualified and experienced educators foster a distinctive mutual support and caring environment, benefiting the students and the entire team.

Yet, solving this complex equation is far from straightforward. Childcare is in crisis, with costs exceeding what most families can afford, while centers struggle to pay competitive wages. The pandemic worsened the situation, causing a significant labor shortage. New York State lost 42% of its early childcare workforce, and many centers closed or reduced classroom sizes, leading to a severe shortage–MKCCC’s waitlist has reached 500 children.

During the COVID crisis, government funding helped keep centers afloat, but this support has ended while inflation and labor market competition persist. Without renewed financial support, there is grave concern for the future of centers and the families that rely on them. This math problem remains unsolved, and without adequate resources, the equation may become increasingly difficult to balance.

Mount Kisco Child Care Center is renowned for hosting impactful, community-oriented events, including the annual gala to raise scholarship funds for the MKCCC Scholarship Fund, Feed Me Fresh: An Edible Evening. The 20th Feed Me Fresh event is the hallmark of Mount Kisco Child Care Center’s innovative seed-to-table nutrition curriculum, developed with the expertise of nutritionists, early education teachers, chefs, and farmers. This program integrates hands-on farming activities in the center’s playground gardens with cooking classes that utilize the seasonal produce grown and harvested by the children. The initiative is further supported by an in-house Feed Me Fresh food service team, which provides fresh, healthy, homemade meals and snacks through sustainable methods, supporting local agriculture whenever possible.

Inspired by this program, local restaurants and chefs joined forces 20 years ago to create a fundraising event that celebrates the principles of Feed Me Fresh: nutritious, sustainable, and delicious food. Over the years, this event has transformed into a night of culinary excellence, featuring delectable samples from beloved local restaurants. These establishments not only donate their food but also create immersive experiences at their tasting stations. Keira Treanor, President of the Board for MKCCC, further notes, “We raise a huge portion of our scholarship budget at this one event, and you can always feel the love and support from every guest. Although the gala is very large, at over 300 guests, it feels like a small family gathering, making it my favorite and most special occasion of the year!” The event has grown beyond expectations, offering all attendees a unique and memorable experience.

In addition to the culinary delights, we are thrilled to celebrate twenty years of this event and its significant impact on our organization. Treanor adds that she is particularly excited as we honor two extraordinary members of the MKCCC family, Ruth Goodman, and Peter Schwarz. Their unwavering dedication and commitment to the MKCCC mission epitomize the best of what this childcare center stands for.

Over the years, Feed Me Fresh has evolved into the largest funding source for the Mount Kisco Child Care Center Scholarship Fund, enabling us to continue our vital work in the community. As MKCCC reflects on this milestone, they remain committed to solving the complex financial equation of childcare access and affordability, ensuring every child can thrive in a nurturing environment. For more information, please visit mkccc.org

Navigating a Pandemic & Advocating for Families at the Mount Kisco Child Care Center

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Ruth Goodman with son, Adam, and niece, Sarah, who are both long-time MKCCC volunteers.

Established as a non-profit in 1971, Mount Kisco Child Care Center has served more than 6,500 children over the past 50 years. The Center serves nearly 200 children each year and is committed to its successful model of service–balancing families who can pay the full fee for care, with families who require need-based scholarship support to attend. Each year MKCCC raises more than $600,000 for its scholarship program. Approximately half of our families receive some level of scholarship support. MKCCC provides year-round child care and early education programs for children beginning at three months until elementary school. The Center offers before- and after-school care to children in Kindergarten through 5th grade and a full-time, eight-week summer enrichment camp for elementary students through 5th grade.

The pandemic has posed many predictable hardships for our neediest families. We are lucky to live in a community with a tremendously generous spirit. From the very beginning of this long and unprecedented time of need, we have been able to utilize community resources and services to assure that our families have food, clothing, diapers, and all basic necessities. We are very thankful to have such devoted community partners.

As the pandemic wears on, a less easily solved problem has arisen. It is safe to say that remote learning has posed a challenge for all families. Supervising and assisting our children with remote learning has been a bemoaned task and burden; much validated by countless comedians and commercials. 

There is nothing funny about it, however, if you are a parent who must go to work, in person, every day, in order to provide for your family. These mothers and fathers cannot work from home and provide that imperfect, yet safe model of learning known as remote, or hybrid.  

From the very first day that schools initiated remote learning, Mount Kisco Child Care Center transformed our K-5th grade afterschool program into a full day remote learning program. Serving 30 students from seven different school districts, we set out to provide an option for those parents who had no choice regarding their return to work.

Advocating for Our Students

What we found is that some students had very little trouble adapting to online learning and were able to thrive academically. Others, however, have struggled. We knew that just as we became an online learning setting for families in need, we had to also become advocates for our students, just as a parent or in-home caregiver would. Our teachers and I began collaborating frequently with teachers at children’s schools. In sharing our observations about what a student was challenged by, we were able to formulate strategies to meet goals varying from increased engagement and focus regarding the online learning itself, to increased comprehension of the material, and greater success with assignments.

This intervention served to bridge the gap between “home” and school in many instances. We were thrilled to see happier kids, and parents who were less anxious about their need to work during this unprecedented time. There were, however, some students who needed more support than was possible through our collaborations with the school districts.

One such student is Janet. Janet is a friendly, bright and extroverted 10-year-old. She has been a part of our afterschool program for many years. Historically, Janet was an excellent student with no identified barriers to learning. Soon after the implementation of remote learning, her academic performance declined. Accustomed to academic success, this shift quickly affected her confidence, and thus her engagement with her online classes. A negative pattern became evident to our teachers. Accustomed to positive feedback from her teachers for both attitude and achievement, she felt embarrassed when she was unsure or wrong in class and ceased to participate only serving to cause her to fall further behind. Our MKCCC teachers came to me with their concerns. In meeting with Janet’s teachers, I learned that they too were alarmed by the changes that they were seeing in Janet. 

Janet’s parents were distressed about this development. They felt helpless. Sadly, in many ways they were. Janet’s mother is a store cashier and her father is a handyman. English is their second language. They couldn’t give her the academic assistance that she needed, nor were they able to afford a tutor.

Once again looking to resources in our community made a solution possible. I reached out to a local college student who was living at home during the pandemic, as her classes were online and her campus was closed. As an Education major, Emma jumped at the opportunity to become involved. With input from our teachers, and Janet herself, Emma familiarized herself with Janet’s areas of challenge and confusion. Janet was immediately excited about the prospect of having her own tutor. When she learned it was a college student, she was even more enthusiastic, revealing her hope to go to college one day. Emma has shared with me how disconnected and isolated she has felt since her own remote learning began. Having a connection with Janet and seeing the positive impact of her assistance has given her an unexpected but very welcome sense of purpose during this turbulent time.

COVID-19 has changed our world significantly. What hasn’t changed is our mission of providing high-quality child care and early education for all of our families. We pride ourselves on our commitment to maintaining a diverse student community , both socio-economically and culturally. The children enrolled at MKCCC continue to learn, grow, and thrive, through our innovative and award-winning curriculum, including the intergenerational Joining Elders With Early Learners (JEWEL) program and Feed Me Fresh (FMF) nutrition education program. Mount Kisco Child Care Center looks forward to our next 50 years, pledging to continue our service to our community with optimism and dedication to excellence in child care.

‘Feed Me Fresh’ Virtual Fundraiser Raised $100,000 to Support Quality Child Care Access

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Proceeds from the 16th Annual Fundraiser for the Mount Kisco Child Care Center to Provide Financial Support for Working Families in Need

L-R: Keira Treanor, Event Chair and Vice President, Board of Directors MKCCC/ Joe DiMauro, Owner, Mt Kisco Seafood/Dawn Meyerski, Executive Director, MKCCC

Mt. Kisco, NY – (October 19, 2020) – Mount Kisco Child Care Center (MKCCC) held its 16th Annual Feed Me Fresh: A Virtual Evening on Saturday, September 26th. The fundraiser was broadcast virtually for the first time and raised $100,000 for the Center’s need-based scholarship program. Viewers enjoyed a tour of the Center, honoree recognition, guest video appearances from long-time FMF restaurant partners and live raffle drawings. Approximately half of the 195 children who attend the Center receive financial support to help provide access to quality child care for working families.

This year, MKCCC was thrilled to honor its teachers and staff. MKCCC is the only local child care center to have remained open throughout the pandemic, and by sharing best practices helped guide other organizations as they made the decision to re-open. In addition to serving families of essential workers, the Center welcomed enrolled families who needed a safe and nurturing place for their children to be during this unprecedented time. The teachers also engaged remote families so that all students felt connected. Lessons and activities were sent home through Google Classroom while Zoom classes were created for all children including show and tell, music, dance, circle time and story hour. MKCCC’s in-house kitchen staff prepared and packaged 160 meals each week for 8 weeks throughout the summer and distributed them to more than 40 families. MKCCC’s Social Worker continues to be in touch with every family to ensure all their needs are being met – physical, social and emotional. Despite constant and varied challenges, the Center ran a full-day, 8-week summer camp program which also included a swimming component at the town pool.

 

 

 

 

 

When public schools reopened in September, a new Remote Learning Program was developed. Dawn Meyerski, Executive Director, explains: “With school districts all having different scheduling, we needed to add a third program for our school-age children. The Early Morning Club and After-School Program will remain, with the addition of the Remote Learning Program. New teachers were hired, classrooms were reconfigured, and schedules were coordinated with the elementary schools, which ensured a smooth transition to the new school year.” MKCCC teachers continue to pivot to meet ever-changing COVID-19 protocols and requirements, while never compromising their high-quality care and attention for the children.

The Center was also pleased to honor Tommy Calandrucci and Gianni Piccolino of Stone Fire, Basilico and Sunset Cove restaurants. Gianni and Tommy are long-time supporters of Mount Kisco Child Care Center through their participation in Feed Me Fresh: An Edible Evening for the past 14 years. Since March, they have been providing meals to the community and directly to MKCCC families needing support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

About Mount Kisco Child Care Center:

Mount Kisco Child Care Center is a non-profit, NAEYC-accredited childcare facility serving families in Northern Westchester since 1971. MKCCC provides exceptional and affordable early care and education to a diverse group of children from three months to eleven years of age. Experienced and professional teachers, an innovative curriculum, unique programs, such as the JEWEL Intergenerational Program and Feed Me Fresh, its garden-to-table, sustainable nutrition program, and a state of the art facility contribute to create an incomparable early childhood education experience.

MKCCC is located at 95 Radio Circle, Mount Kisco, NY. For additional information, please visit www.mkccc.org or call (914) 241-2135. Follow MKCCC on www.facebook.com/MKCCC and www.twitter.com/MKCCC10549 for the latest news and updates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

News and Photos Courtesy of the Mount Kisco Child Care Center