On December 8, 2008 Chef Paul Magro hosted the annual “Cookies for Kids Program” through Nassau BOCES Joseph M. Barry Career and Technical Education Center. Students from various high schools in Nassau County attend the Culinary Arts Program at Barry Tech. Chef Magro, who is an instructor there, encourages the students to participate in the program to spread holiday cheer and bring specially baked goodies to hospitalized children and to young patients receiving outpatient treatment for childhood cancer.

The event was part of Project SOAR ( School Re-entry Ongoing Academic Resources) in assocaition with the Michael Magro Foundation. The goal of the program is to ensure that every child treated at Winthrop’s Cancer Center for Kids (CCFK) is afforded the opportunity for a smooth and successful transition back into the formal educational system after absences due to major illness.