FY24 Annual Report by sylviacenter

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Our vision is to create healthy communities through the power of cooking.

Our mission is to educate young people and families through culinary programming to promote health and well-being.

Dear Friends,

“This beet tastes empowering!”

empowering, and we are so proud that in 2024 The Sylvia Center empowered so many more students through our nutrition-focused culinary programming than in any prior year.

Our growth was fueled not only by beets, and other healthy ingredients, but also by our students, staff, partners, and funders, who worked collaboratively to bring culinary programming to New York City and upstate New York all year.

In 2024, The Sylvia Center nearly doubled the number of students who learned about healthy food and how to cook delicious, fresh food recipes through our core Cooks for Health program. We launched a new track of our most intensive program, the Teen Culinary Apprenticeship, which introduced students to career opportunities through work-based learning experiences.

And we extended well beyond our Columbia County roots at Katchkie Farm into the Capital District, allowing us to educate more than four times the number of students upstate. At our organic learning garden, these students learned about, prepared, and tasted fruits and vegetables they had the opportunity to pick themselves.

Fortunately, our garden blooms each year, so there is much that still needs tending. Demand for our programming is high, and the need to build healthy communities and provide access to fresh food and food education remains critical.

In the coming year, our focus will be to engage more broadly with our partners to bring health and wellness to entire communities.

Our goal is to reach more students in the early years and their families, provide more professional engagement opportunities for our teens, and reach areas in New York City and upstate New York that otherwise wouldn’t have access to quality culinary and food education programming.

We could not do this work without the full array of supporters who share our values and commitment to growing healthy communities. Thank you for being our partner. We look forward to committing to this important work together with you in the coming year.

Photo (L-R): Cindy Edelson, Barbara Glassman, Tara Gendelman

Cindy Edelson Chair (to June 30, 2024)

Tara Gendelman Chair (from July 1, 2024)

Barbara A. Glassman Executive Director

PLANTING THE SEED FOR GOOD HEAL

The Sylvia Center was founded in 2007 to address the growing tide of childhood diet-related diseases. Guided by a vision to create healthy communities through the power of cooking, we teach young people and families nutrition literacy and essential cooking skills.

Wo

Young people ages 2-24 and their families

Were

All fve New York City boroughs, upstate New York in Columbia County and the Capital District, and our Learning Garden at Katchkie Farm

Wen

Year-round with program sessions in fall, spring, and summer during school-time classes, after-school sessions, and summer programs

In the classroom, students learn to:

• Develop essential kitchen skills

• Explore new foods

• Distinguish between whole and processed foods

• Build a healthy plate

• Add favor healthfully

• Understand seasonality

“Te power of cooking is love. You need to love what you’re doing!”

Teen Culinary Apprenticeship participant

OUR PROGRAMS

“Elizabeth has dyslexia and ﬂips letters and numbers so she struggles a lot with reading and math. But in this class style she is able to totally do it on her own without someone having to read instructions for her. It is really helping her with her conﬁdence. She’s so proud to be able to cook all by herself.”

Cooks for Health Family parent

44 program sites

6,052 students served

349 visits to the farm

1,063 meal kits distributed

1,788 program hours

GROWTH: Total number of students served increased by 78%.

80% are eating one or more healthy meals per week as a result of our nutrition-focused classes

94% can correctly identify the components of a healthy plate 94% of teens are confident in using basic cooking skills

100% would recommend TSC to a friend

Based on participant survey results

A BLOOMING YEAR IN S

“Last year, I wasn’t in the position that I’m in now. I wasn’t looking at life the same way. You know, I wasn’t thinking about my future as much. Now I’m thinking about it a whole lot more. I’m telling you this because The Sylvia Center played a part in that. I started to care once I started doing things other than school. I realized there are things other than sitting in the classroom.”

Work-Based Learning participant

NEED: Only 32% of NYC high schools offer nutrition education programs.

Work-Based Learning students with guest chef, Jae Lee (center), who taught a kimbap (Korean seaweed rice rolls) making class. Chef Lee is founder of Nowon restaurant and co-chair of The Sylvia Center Culinary Council.

COOKING UP CONFIDENCE: MY CULINARY JOURNEY

Meet Dana Dessources, Teen Culinary Apprenticeship Alumna

During my senior year in high school, I joined the Teen Culinary Apprenticeship program with the goal of learning to cook. My mom was worried that when I went away to college I wouldn’t be able to eat well because I didn’t know how to cook. I would always tell her, “Oh, don’t worry; the university provides food!” Let’s just say I’m extremely glad I listened to her.

While The Sylvia Center taught me how to cook, it also taught me how to cook healthier. I was born and raised in Queens, the daughter of Caribbean immigrants. During my childhood, I was surrounded by Haitian and Guyanese dishes, which while very delicious, can be very rich in oil. But one thing this program taught me is that I can still enjoy my favorite dishes from my

Even though I joined the program to hone my cooking skills, I was surprised about all the other things I learned. Whether it was prepping the vegetables or setting up the station, we had to communicate, collaborate, and rely on one another to be successful. In fact, through this experience, I became close to

Being a teen culinary apprentice was so much fun and an experience I will remember forever. Not only can I cook, but I understand the importance of nutrition, and I will take that knowledge with me into

Dana Dessources, TSC’s 2023 recipient of the Divina Future Community Leader Award, is a sophomore at the University of Rochester majoring in public health with the goal of being a physician assistant.

Dana prepares a dish in a Teen Culinary Apprenticeship class at Richmond Hill High School.

FARM TO TABLE

July 15, 2023 | Katchkie Farm

Photos: (L) Liz Neumark, The Sylvia Center Founder and board member, welcomes more than 200 members of the TSC community. (R) Families enjoy a day on the farm flled with activities and delicious food.

ART OF COOKING

March 12, 2024 | Hall des Lumières, NYC

Honoring Cindy Edelson, Board Chair and FOODMatch + Divina

Tank you!

Cindy Edelson, Board Chair 2018-2024

Cindy Edelson is an extraordinary voice and leader for The Sylvia Center. In June 2024, Cindy stepped down from her position as board chair after six years. We are truly grateful for her unwavering dedication to supporting youth and families and creating healthy communities through the power of cooking. We are grateful she will remain an active member of our Board of Directors.

Photos: (Top) Honorees Phil Meldrum, Founder and President of FOODMatch + Divina, and Cindy Edelson, Board Chair. (Bottom) TSC Culinary Council members with the evening’s guest auctioneer, Chef Ayesha Nurdjaja (center) of Shuka and Shukette.

Photos by Bogardus Photography

Photos by Amanda Gentile

FINANCIALS

July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024

Revenue

Total: $2,012,536

Expenses Total: $1,995,496

GROWTH: Total revenue increased by 26% from fscal year 2023 to fscal year 2024.

THANK YOU GENEROUS SUPPORTERS!

$5,000 - $9,999

Jennifer and Charles Baum

Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation

Trudy Elbaum Gottesman and Robert Gottesman

The Jim Jacobs Charitable Foundation

The New York Community Trust

Pinkerton Foundation

Nancy and Fred Poses

Edna and Dan Purjes

Trinity Church Wall Street

$25,000 - $49,999

Nina Freedman and Michael Rosenbaum

Hannaford Charitable Foundation

Lori and David Moore

Liz Neumark and Chaim Wachsberger

The Staten Island Foundation

$10,000 - $24,999

Angela and Jacob Buchdahl

Arnhold Foundation

Bloomberg L.P.

Delaware North FOODMatch + Divina

Tara and Joe Gendelman

Alicia Glen and Daniel Rayner

Mindy and Jon Gray

The Hyde and Watson Foundation

Laurie Lindenbaum and Robert Horne

Lily Auchincloss Foundation

Frances and Jack Levy

The Meg and Bennett Goodman

Family Foundation

Chantal and Phil Meldrum

Abigail Pogrebin and David Shapiro

Proskauer

Mindy Schneider and Michael Lesser

Emily and Steven Steinman

Steven Tishman

Sidney Kohl Family Foundation

Lise and Jeffrey Wilks

BlackRock

CBRE

Charles Fagan and Ari Wiseman

Judith and Alan Fishman

Sheri and David Gellman

Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation

Elizabeth and Steven Gruber

Council Member Kamillah Hanks

Herrick Feinstein LLP

The J.M. Kaplan Fund

Lynne Jacobs and Avery Scheiner

Joyce and Irving Goldman

Family Foundation

Sheryl Kaye

The KCF Fund

Stacey and Curtis Lane

Jae Lee and Scott Millstein

Mary Norris Preyer Fund

The Mellam Family Foundation

Marti Meyerson and Jamie Hooper

Mimi and Lorin Reisner

Miguelina and Adrien Rios

Nioka Rodriguez

Claudia and Dara Rosenberg

Laura and Peter Rothschild

Jill and Howard Sharfstein

Peggy and David Tanner

Teri and Barry Volpert

Mr. and Mrs. James Zelter

$2,500 - $4,999

E. Sherrell Andrews and Robert Kuhbach

Jim Clark

Ellen and Casey Cogut

Lynn Cole and Ian Rosenblum

Danielle and Michael Colen

Dana Cowin and Barclay Palmer

Alisa and Daniel Doctoroff

Whitney and Peter Donhauser

Stef Goodsell and Jeremy Fielding

Keith Gottesdiener

Grand Street Settlement

Gary Halperin

Ayesha Nurdjaja

Lois Perelson-Gross and Stewart Gross

Carol Ostrow and Michael Graff

Peggy Segal and David Topper

Michael David Silber

Terri Smith and Theodore Burke

Deanie Stein and Jay Meredith Stein

Tackel-Raven Family Foundation

Mary and John Trousdale

Leslie and John Unwin

Marjorie and Charles Van Dercook

Nicole Viscito

$1,000 - $2,499

Jean-Robert Andre

Helene Banks

Gary Bedigan

Mindy Birnbaum and Barry Rutcofsky

Leslie and Andrew Blauner

Laura Tisch Broumand and Stafford Broumand

Ralph Bumbaca

Rachel Cogut and Jared Zuckerman

Brooke Goodman Cohen

Lisa Cohen

The Dresner Sadaka Family Fund

Anne Ebersman and Dan Caligor

Andrew Edelson

Annabel Edelson

Charlotte Edelson

Oliver Edelson

Vernon Evenson and Paul Cassidy

Niki Russ Federman and Christopher Meehan

Cindi and Gregg Fisher

Judith Fryer and Daniel Biggs

Linda and Alex Gardner

Devin Gilliam

Chanel and Daniel Gilmer

Barbara Glassman and Arthur Rubin

Glenmede

The Sylvia Center extends our gratitude to the following individuals, corporations, and foundations that generously donated from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.

Marni and Bruce Gutkin

Rachel Neumark Herlands and Jonathan Herlands

Maggie Hunt

Marc Kirschner

Stacy and David Kramer

Eugenia and Robert Ulasewicz Labbancz

David Landgraf

Margie and John Lewin

Deborah and Gregg Lobel

Mr. Charles F. Lowery Jr. and Ms. Susan T. Rodriguez

Mawa and Daniel McQueen

Dodi Meyer and Stephen Heim

Jami and Nicholas Moore

Elyse and Michael Newhouse

Orentreich Family FundDavid Orentreich

Stephanie and Noah Perlman

Becky Quan

Betsy Reed and Laurence Zuckerman

Janet Romano and Ted Jadick

Liz and Mony Rueven

Ina Saltz and Steven Beispel

Ellen Schoninger

Jill and Evan Seigerman

Anita Sibony de Adelsberg and Jonathan Adelsberg

Smile Farms

Janet and Gil Spitzer

Monica Stolbach

Stathoula Tsambiras and Paul Schroer

Shawn Warren and Bill Crowley

Stephanie and Lee Spiegel Family Charitable Fund

Whispering Bells Charitable Trust

Steven Wils

Anonymous (1)

$500 - $999

Rosina Abramson and Jeff Glen

Pamela Brier and Peter Aschkenasy

Sara Cashen and Tony Muoser

James Colvin

Jennifer Crichton and David Emil

Geoffrey Edelson

Victoria Freeman and Marc Meyer

Deborah and Ralph Gardner

Amy Gavaris

Rossana Ionescu

Frank Levin

Kathryn and Vincent Heintz

Gillie Holme and Camille Massey

Betsy Jacobs and David Berliner

Jenny Sharfstein Kane and Andrew Kane

Patti Kennedy

Lenovo Corporate Match

Claire Marin

Judith Marlow

Abigail Martone and Daniel Richards

Mary McCormick

Bella Meyer

Jessie Moore

Claudia and Douglas Morse

Kevin O’Conner

Carlos Ortiz and Joel Potter

Kammi Reiss

Jay Rosengarten

Jacqueline and Jesse Rushworth

Felice Sadicario

Nichole and Scott Saland

Katherine Locker Scharlatt and Nick Scharlatt

Leslie and Sal Scotto

Ami Solomon and Howard Kaplan

Karen Suen-Cooper and Martin Cooper

Christina Tobia

Ann and Phil Trowbridge

Ariana Smart Truman and Mark Goldberg

Denise Porcaro Tupper and Josh Tupper

Mike Warren

Roby and Robert Whitlock

Molly Wyatt and Jonathan Hierl

Anonymous (2)

$250 - $499

Kathleen Adams

Felice Axelrod

Ellen Baer and David Lebenstein

Barbara Booras

Catherine Boyle

Jari Buechler

Jennifer Cadenhead

Cheryl Capozzi

Caren Duane

Diane and Steven Eidman

Jill and Joe Fergus

Rachel Friedman and Mark Neustadt

Germantown Library

Lisa Goldschmidt

Paul Harris

Louis Hedgecock

Matt Holloway

Katy Klarnet and Nicholas King

April Stewart Klausner

Cari Lang

Larry Love

Francesca Meldrum

Alix Mills

Susan Mindel

Liz Pullman

Cara Rosenbaum

Abby Rothschild

Carl Sacks

Andrea and Sam Shapiro

Robyn Stein

Nancy and Jerry Straus

Lauren Tregor

Jennie Weiner and Jeremiah Jordan

Judith and Stanley Zabar

Cathy Zises

Anonymous (3)

In-Kind Contributions

Fleurish NYC

Great Performances

Katchkie Farm

Christine Lau

Anita Lo

David Moore

Q Prime Rockey’s Liqueur

Our donors are very important to us. Every effort was made to ensure the accuracy of this report. If we have omitted or misspelled your name, please accept our apologies and let us know so that we may make the correction.

OUR PARTNERS & SITES

Program Partners

Albany City School District

CAMBA

Central Family Life Center

City of Hudson Youth Department

Coalition for Hispanic Family Services

Columbia County Youth Bureau

Palatine Park District

Town of Kinderhook

Town of Livingston

Community Health Action of Staten Island

DREAM Charter Schools

East Side House Settlement

ExpandED Schools

Family Enrichment Center

Food Education Fund

Gaynor McCown Expeditionary Learning School

Germantown Central School District

Good Shepherd Services

Grand Street Settlement

Henry Street Settlement

Hudson School District

Jacob A. Riis Neighborhood Settlement

Lansingburgh Central School District

Mosholu Montefore Community Center

New York City Department of Education

Northeast Bronx YMCA

Olana State Historic Site

The Opportunity Hub

Perfect Ten

Phipps Neighborhoods

Rensselaer City School District

Snug Harbor Cultural Center

South End Children’s Cafe

Taconic Hills Central School District

Town of Livingston

Trinity Church Wall Street

United Activities Unlimited

“The biggest change and impact I noticed in our students was their sense of belonging. It was amazing to see how their conﬁdence grew and how they, for the ﬁrst time in their life, saw themselves as individuals that are capable of so much more.”

Outreach Coordinator Work-Based Learning partner