New York City is home to a community of different cultures. The neighborhood bodega is a unifying place to get everyday essentials. In our book, Bodega Princess, we address the challenge of health and food security as we celebrate the rich diversity of our community and our neighborhood bodega that helps to build that.

Based on a true story, Bodega Princess follows the life of Aaliyah a young Bodega Princess kindergartener, whose dad owns the bodega across the street from her school. With her bodega cat, Aaliyah builds community with her neighbors. All of the teachers at her school know her dad, as he makes sure that he gets the meals to the teachers early so that they are not late for school. When Aaliyah learns about food security in school, she is called to make changes and wants to make sure that everyone she knows has access to healthy food.

Written by Special Education teacher Deirdre Levy and illustrated by Brooklyn born Illustrator, Casielle Santos-Gaerlan, Bodega Princess is meant to empower young students to be active participants in solving NYC's food insecurity and hunger problem.  "According to No Kid Hungry, one in seven children in the United States lives with hunger, and more than 11 million children in the United States live in “food insecure” homes."10% of the proceeds will go to our Bodega Princess's bodega & Chefs for Impact, a 501c3 that educates on food and nutrition in NYC schools.

We have been able to initially fund the children's book through the help of internal donations and orders across NYC. We have adjusted our goal to get through the initial stages of our book.

Production Cost:

• Remaining Creation: $ 2000
• Printing: $ 3800
• Publishing: $ 3800

• ISBN: $ 200

   

Our Team:

 We are extremely proud to be an all-woman team.

Deirdre Levy, Author is a special education teacher living and teaching in Brooklyn, NYC. She is the founder of NYCFilipinos & Co-founder of Project Barkada. As a person of mixed descent, Deirdre's goal is to celebrate and appreciate NYC's diversity while also empowering children to embrace community and find solutions to challenges, especially food insecurity.

Casielle Santos-Gaerlan, Illustrator is a visual artist, illustrator and designer born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Casielle was the illustrator for children's books Kalayaan and Everybody Eats. Her clients include Yahoo, ADWEEK, Lush, and more. Casielle is proud to represent her Brooklyn upbringing as the illustrator for Bodega Princess.

Kathryn Serrano, Mahal Publishing is the creative director for Bodega Princess. Kathryn is the author of Kalayaan, a book about Filipina heroines during WWII. Kathryn is also the founder and owner of With Mahal, a company created to put positive energy into the world.

Kristina Ramos, Chefs 4 Impact is the Chef Educator and Youth Programs Manager for Chefs 4 Impact. 10% of the proceeds will directly impact Chefs 4 Impact and the local bodega that this book is based on. Chefs 4 Impact provides equity, cultural inclusion, innovation and collaboration across NYC schools through food education.