Elmcrest Children's Center

05/21/2026

Elmcrest would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who helped make this year’s H.E.A.T. movie premiere such a meaningful and unforgettable experience.

To the incredible youth involved in the H.E.A.T. program, thank you for sharing your courage, creativity, passion, and voices with us. Your dedication and talent brought this original Elmcrest movie to life in a truly inspiring way. Watching you grow in confidence, leadership, collaboration, and self-expression through the performing arts has been nothing short of amazing. You are the heart of H.E.A.T., and we are so proud of each and every one of you.

To our devoted staff, mentors, families, supporters, and community members, thank you for showing up, encouraging our youth, and believing in the power of storytelling and creative expression. Your guidance, support, and commitment help create opportunities where young people feel empowered, valued, and heard.

And to our generous sponsors and partners, thank you for investing in our mission and helping make programs like H.E.A.T. possible. Your support provides youth with opportunities to discover their voices, build lifelong skills, and experience the transformative power of the arts.

Thank you all for being part of this special journey and for helping us celebrate the voices, talents, and futures of our youth.

05/20/2026

Elmcrest’s Bids for Kids Online Auction is here, and we’re still looking for donations!

New items are being added daily, and your donation can help make a difference for the children and families we serve.

We’re looking for:
✨ Gift baskets
✨ Jewelry & home décor
✨ Golf & sporting goods
✨ Service certificates
✨ Handmade items & more!

📅 Auction Begins: May 14, 2026
⛳ Ends at our 35th Invitational Golf Tournament on June 11, 2026

Interested in donating?
📧 Contact Teresa Block at [email protected]
📞 Or call 315-446-6250 ext. 228

05/18/2026

Thank you, Wendy and Jeff, for sharing your time, talent, and encouragement with our youth. Your kindness and willingness to inspire young people interested in acting and filmmaking truly made this experience unforgettable. We are so grateful for the partnership and support from SAS and look forward to future opportunities for our youth to connect with the creative community.

We wanted to share this heartwarming story from one of our actresses, Wendy Bryant. Wendy just won Best Supporting Actress at our inaugural SASFest.

“[My husband] Jeff Bryant and I attended a dinner and a movie for a student film premiere yesterday as representatives from SAS at Elmcrest Children’s Center. They had reached out to Joe Cunningham about loaning props for their event to make it like the red carpet. We loaned them the Oscar Statues we used for SASFest and also I volunteered to speak to the children about acting and about the great opportunities developing in Syracuse for actors and film makers. Jeff Bryant volunteered his time to take photos. Overall the event was very well received and attended. The children did a great job with their film and we were honestly impressed. Some of the students expressed to me a genuine interest in acting and we will be reaching out to the center to provide resources on how they can get started. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. Unfortunately, due to confidentiality reasons (the center is a residential facility and school for children with behavioral issues and developmental disabilities who are in the custody of DSS) we aren’t able to post most of the pictures we took, but we are happily providing them to the school for their use. We will post any pictures that we have without the children’s faces of me giving a speech to them as soon as Jeff Bryant has edited them. The children at some point would also like to take a field trip to one of our SAS meetings, which will be a great opportunity for them to see what the SAS community is all about. Jeff Bryant and I were honored to be included in their event as reps for SAS. It was a very heartwarming experience.”

We are so proud of you and Jeff, Wendy. Thank you for this amazing act of service. You truly inspired the next generation. We’re so happy SAS could be a part of that through you.

📸 by

05/18/2026

🎉 Bids for Kids Online Auction is LIVE! 🎉

It’s time to bid, support, and make a difference for children and families in need! Every bid helps bring hope, support, and essential resources to those who need it most

Featured Items Include:
• Turning Stone Getaway Package
• Blackstone Griddle Grilling Package
• Gift Baskets
• Jewelry
• Home Décor
• Sporting Goods
• Health & Beauty Packages
• Service Certificates & More!

🗓 Auction Closes: June 11, 2026 at 7:00 PM

💙 Every bid helps change lives — one bid at a time.

🔗 Bid now: Bids for Kids Online Auction: https://new.biddingowl.com/items?QueryAuctionId=9fb100ec-63ef-40c5-8a59-519170d17a7d&QueryCategory=%20All

05/05/2026

Elmcrest is incredibly proud of our youth for giving back to the community through their volunteer work at the Food Bank of Central New York.

Residents from Cottage 7 and Cottage 2 showed up with heart, teamwork, and determination, and they absolutely crushed it. In less than an hour, they helped package over 5,000 pounds of food to support families in need.

At Elmcrest Children's Center, we believe in teaching more than just life skills, we believe in building compassion, responsibility, and a commitment to doing good. Experiences like this help our youth see the impact they can have when they give back.

We couldn’t be more proud of the way they represented Elmcrest and their community.

05/04/2026

Elmcrest’s Bids for Kids Online Auction is almost here! We’re calling on our amazing community to help make this year’s event the best one yet.

The online auction auction starts May 14, 2026 and concludes at our 35th Invitational Golf Tournament on June 6, 2026

We’re looking for:

- Items that showcase your business

- Handmade creations or talents

- Service or experience gift certificates and gift baskets

-Jewelry, golf, home décor and more!

Your donation gets featured on our auction site and helps raise critical funds for the children and families Elmcrest supports every day.

Want to donate an item? Teresa Block at [email protected] or call 315—446-6250 ext. 228

Let’s come together and lift up kids who need us most.

04/22/2026

Our youth have been putting in serious work behind the scenes—writing scripts, operating cameras, acting, and even designing costumes, and it’s all leading up to something special.

Join us for an unforgettable evening as participants in the H.E.A.T. program premiere their original Elmcrest movie! This isn’t just a film, it’s a powerful showcase of creativity, confidence, and youth voices coming to life through storytelling.

📅 Saturday, May 16, 2026
📍 Elmcrest Children’s Center
🍽 Dinner Served: 5:00 PM
🎬 Movie Begins: 5:30 PM

The H.E.A.T. program is more than theater,it’s about building leadership, collaboration, and giving young people a platform to shine.

🎟️ Get your tickets here: https://elmcrest.org/theatreprogram/

04/16/2026

Elmcrest Early Education SPICE Program had a wonderful day of hands-on learning and exploration.

Thanks to Durham School Services for generously providing a bus, 18 Elmcrest SPICE students were able to join the ESM Universal Preschool Program (UPK) for an exciting field trip to ESM High School.

Our 4-year-old students explored five career classrooms: Culinary Arts, Cosmetology, Production Systems, Automotive Technology, and TV Production and fully immersed themselves in each experience.

Together with ESM UPK, a total of 38 students from Elmcrest Early Education classrooms participated in the day’s activities. The children had a fantastic time decorating cookies, styling hair and nails, exploring construction materials, checking tire tread and adding air to tires, and even stepping in front of a green screen to deliver the news!

It was a joyful, engaging day filled with curiosity, creativity, and meaningful new experiences that sparked big imagination in little learners.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make this opportunity possible.

03/30/2026

We’re proud to share that Elmcrest Children’s Center has been awarded a 2026 Literacy Champion Grant from the Literacy Coalition of Onondaga County.

This funding supports our new summer program, Literacy & History in Motion, a hands-on, immersive experience where youth will explore history, meet authors, visit museums, and build literacy skills in creative and meaningful ways.

From storytelling to a live Wax Museum showcase, this program is all about making learning come alive.

This project was made possible by a Literacy Champion Grant from the Literacy Coalition of Onondaga County.

Want to learn more about the program and its impact?
Check out our full blog post here: https://elmcrest.org/elmcrest-awarded-2026-literacy-champion-grant-to-bring-history-and-literacy-to-life/

03/20/2026

Winner’s Choice is back! Become a Hole Sponsor by purchasing a $100 Hole Sponsorship by April 15, and you will be entered to win one of two prizes:

A foursome at the Elmcrest 35th Annual Invitational Golf Tournament (a $700 value), or a Blackstone Iron Forged 2-Burner Liquid Propane Outdoor Griddle with Hood in Black (a $399.99 value), perfect for summer BBQs and donated by Ace Village Hardware.

Support a great cause and enter for a chance to win. Click on the link to secure your sponsorship today https://elmcrest.org/34-golf-tournament-2/