This winter, we’ve been cooking up something special in the kitchen of Albany’s South End Children’s Café. Every Friday, The Sylvia Center Chef Educators Sarah and Joe lead a full community-meal cooking session for the kids who attend their after-school program. SECC serves dinner to children every single day—an essential service at a time when rising food costs and shrinking benefits are making it harder for families to keep healthy meals on the table.
Our Friday partnership weaves our two missions together: the Café provides a warm, reliable community space, and The Sylvia Center brings hands-on culinary education that turns making meals into a shared learning experience. Together, we create a space where kids not only eat a nutritious meal—they help make and serve it.
Double The Impact
This collaboration also reflects SECC’s mission. Founder Tracie Killar explains:
“We started 10 years ago to share meals and impact food security in an under-resourced community. We’ve served over 360,000 dinners. The sad part is that we have a waiting list of about 75 people, and it’s always growing. The partnership with The Sylvia Center is really important. The kids love to be in the kitchen. They’re so much more empowered to eat healthy food if they’ve cooked it or served it. As a small nonprofit—especially with funding cuts—we wouldn’t be able to do it without you guys.”
Alongside Sarah and Joe, students help prepare the full dinner from start to finish. Together we’ve cooked Rasta Pasta, Butternut Squash Soup with Grilled Cheese, Baked Mac and Cheese with Roasted Root Vegetables, and a new favorite: Tahini Rice Crispy Treats. As they chop, season, stir, and plate, you can watch skills—and confidence—take shape in real time. Kids swap tips, ask thoughtful questions, encourage classmates, and beam when their dish makes it to the serving table.
Breaking Bread
“This program illustrates the beauty of breaking bread together,” confirms Educator Sarah. “The kids serve each other, sit down with staff to eat and chat, and proudly tell their parents what they made. The heartbeat of this place is palpable.”
Each Friday, kids leave with full plates—but also new skills, new confidence, and a growing sense that they can nourish themselves and their community. It’s food education at its best.
