Scenes From The Summer, Made Possible By Your Generous Support

Above Photo Credit: Erica Miller - The Daily Gazette

The Summer Enrichment Program at Saratoga and Belmont was a huge success! Thank you to all of our sponsors for providing a healthy, educational, safe, and fun summer for the children of our backstretch workers! Thank you to the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, The Hawley Foundation, Stewart's Shops, The Children and Horses Welfare Foundation, New York Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund, the partners of West Point Thoroughbreds, Saratoga Shredders, and numerous generous individuals. 

Thank you to John Hendrickson for the Backstretch Appreciation Program, which incredibly provides activities and services virtually every day of the Saratoga meet. It is our honor and blessing to assist with the coordination of this program and our folks are most grateful to be able to spend time with their friends and families while enjoying trips, dinners, classes, and recreational activities. Pictured above: A trip to the Washington County Fair.. 

Members of our team were blessed with the opportunity to visit colleges in Boston with two of our teen mentoring participants and their moms.  

Thank you to the Carvalho Family Foundation for their generous gift to the NY Race Track Chaplaincy!

Thank you to Pastor Cecil Matthew and the members of One Church of Elmont for their ongoing generosity. Pictured above, Pastor Cecil delivers 30 backpacks and school supplies for our Back to School Program. 

Among the blessings of mentoring our youth:  Witnessing the joy of children as they experience a milkshake for the first time.  The verdict:  They liked it!

We are grateful for our partnership with the  New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association.  Picture above: a family is reunited in Saratoga thanks to the NYTHA sponsored Belmont - Saratoga bus which keeps our families connected during the Saratoga racing season

The basketball game and brunch were so much fun we had to share a few more pics. Many smiles all around. Thank you to our sponsors!

Brunch Photos: Skip Dickstein, Basketball Photos: Alex Zhan and Joe Labozzetta

NYS Governor Kathy Hochul was in town and joined John Hendrickson and a crowd of supporters and elected officials in naming a portion of Union Avenue "Marylou Whitney Way". What a wonderful tribute to our late dear friend and devoted champion of the backstretch community. 

Over 25 Women celebrated the completion of 6 weeks of workshops through our Women's Enrichment Program. Certificates and prizes were given to those with perfect attendance and outstanding participation. We ended the night with a delicious Italian dinner and chocolate dessert.

We love greeting friends, both old and new, in Saratoga!

As always the soccer tournament is a highlight of our summer recreation program thanks to John Hendrickson and NYTHA.  The tournament was extremely competitive, friendly, and fun and provided a much-need break from the daily grind.  Congratulations to the champs, Team Nuipi!

BACK TO SCHOOL!

Our backpack and school supply distribution was made all the more special this year thanks to all of our donors who made it possible for us to give each child a brand new pair of sneakers! A special shout-out to the Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation, Jose Ortiz, Chad Brown, and Dr. Robert Brawer for their sponsorship of new sneaker program and to numerous generous donors as well as the Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation for their sponsorship of the back to school program. 

HISTORY!

WOW, WE ARE SO PROUD OF OUR BOARD MEMBERS

Our board member Johnny Velazquez ("Johnny V") made history on August 25th when he entered the winner's circle aboard the Bill Mott trained Precusory and thereby recorded his 1,000th  Saratoga victory.  Johnny is the first jockey in history to reach this milestone at Saratoga Race Course where the jockey colony is widely acknowledged to be the strongest in the country. Johnny of course is an even bigger winner off the track, as a mentor to many and an active participant in numerous charities including the NY Chaplaincy.  Congratulations, Johnny!

Our Board Chairman Terry Finley, along with his wife Debbie, are the co-founders of West Point Thoroughbreds. The partnership, founded in 1991, celebrated a significant milestone in Saratoga on August 21st when Phantom Smoke, Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard, crossed the wire first and recorded West Point's 1,000th win! West Point's exciting summer continued on the West Coast when Flightline, partially owned by West Point, recorded a  jaw-dropping victory in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar. Widely recognized and respected as leaders of our industry, the Finley's set the standard in all aspects of their business. Life on the backstretch has been impacted as a direct result of the efforts of the Finley's and the West Point partners and we thank them for their wisdom, compassion, and guidance. Congratulations!

Show Some Love To Our New Building!

We are blanketing our building with good wishes, would you like to send yours? We will gladly write it on the building. Drop us a line at chaplain@rtcany.org.