Being able to serve more fresh milk at the Schuylerville After School Youth Program is a “big help!” says Jennie Winter, the program director at the Schuylerville Youth Center. The Youth Center received a new milk cooler, filled with King Brothers Dairy milk, thanks to a donation by local dairy farmers.

“King Brothers Dairy and our farm has been part of the community for 120 year. My brother Jeff and I love living here and want to be part of the community. This is a good way for us to give back a little bit — there’s no better way than to help provide a little bit of great nutrition for kids,” says Schuylerville dairy farmer Jan King.

Jan King (left) pictured with Schuylerville Youth Center program director Jennie Winter.

A total of 10 coolers were distributed to food pantries and youth centers in the Albany area through American Dairy Association North East’s Fill a Glass with Hope®, the charitable milk donation program initiated by Pennsylvania dairy farmers in 2015. The program was introduced in New York in 2019.

“The children were very excited to have the milk and pretty much drank it in an instant and actually asked to have more!” said Jennie.

Milk is one of the most requested but least donated items to food banks, so the Fill a Glass with Hope® program helps to fill a nutritional gap by making milk more accessible. “Being able to provide milk is truly great! Especially when I’ve got a kid here that’s hungry and can’t focus on schoolwork. Milk’s got calories and protein, and that helps the kids feel full and stay focused,” said Jennie.

The King brothers are helping to keep the Youth Center’s cooler stocked with fresh milk for the next several weeks.

“There’s a lot that goes into dairy farming. Being able to bottle some milk brings the whole thing full circle. You start by planting the seed to grow food for the cows, and you milk the cows, and now we can put a quality, great-tasting, nutritious product in a bottle that people can enjoy. To be able to have kids here at the Youth Center enjoy a product like that, it warms your heart and makes you feel good for all the hard work you to do to make that product,” said Jan King.

The donation comes as a result of King Brothers Dairy winning ADANE’s “Dairying for Tomorrow” award for community outreach.