Pictured above: A scene from our Belmont Christmas Carnival, sponsored by horse owner Mike Repole

Thanks to your support we have been blessed to serve the backstretch community with festive holiday celebrations this past month. Pictured above, scenes from our Belmont Christmas Carnival and Sponsor a Family Christmas Event.

Thank you to Mike Repole who has faithfully sponsored our carnival for several years and even increased the level of his sponsorship this year to make the event extra special for our families.

Thank you to The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation and to our many donors and volunteers including The John Theissen Children's Foundation, Saints Church of Glendale, Send in the Clowns, Floral Park Boy Scout Troop 4, Elmont Memorial Key Club, The Bridge Church of Malverne, and the many partners of West Point Thoroughbreds for their dedicated support.

Thanks to so many of you, we were not only able to sponsor every family requesting support at Christmas, but for the first time were able to widen our circle of those supported at Christmas to include 70 families without young children.

We are grateful to our friend Steve Sullivan ("Sully"), owner of Longfellows Restaurant in Saratoga for hosting and providing free of charge a luxurious dinner for all of our Saratoga families. Thank you to the Borisenok family for providing, through Teddy Foster and United Preservation Hall of Saratoga, fabulous brand new dinosaur-themed toys and backpacks, to the Children's Museum of Saratoga for providing activities for the children, and to all of our donors and sponsors for making this event so special.

Thank you to Kim Weir, NY Chaplaincy Volunteer Extraordinaire and Director of Major Gifts and Planned Giving for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation ("TRF") and her Merry Herd of Volunteers, Staff, and Supporters, for joining together to bless our Saratoga backstretch community with a toy drive for Christmas. On behalf of our families in Saratoga we thank you for brightening our Christmas!!

Thank you to our sponsors the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) for generously sponsoring both a Christmas lunch on the backstretch and hot cocoa and breakfast for all on Christmas morning. We are grateful to partner with NYTHA in service to those who make Thoroughbred racing possible behind the scenes.

Thank you to the generous partners of Rainbow's End Racing Stable led by Bob Scavetta for their annual contribution of brand new bicycles. Transportation around the tracks without a vehicle is a challenge and a bicycle can change a life for those living and working on the backstretch. These bikes are very well received and we are grateful to be able to distribute them. Thank you!

We had a wonderful turnout and a festive celebration for our December craft night. The ladies enjoyed dinner, a craft, a message, and the pleasure of each other's company. Thank you to NYTHA for sponsoring this great event.

The rising cost of diapers means that many of our families are in acute need of donations of diapers. We reached out to the Allied Foundation who immediately sent a pallet of diapers for our families. We are very grateful and thank the Allied Foundation for their generous support!