American Dairy Association North East, Armory Foundation Renew Partnership
August 21, 2025 | 4 min to read
Checkoff Keeps Café Naming Rights, Sponsors Refuel with Chocolate Milk Officials’ Hall of Fame Invitational
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – American Dairy Association North East, representing New York dairy farmers, renewed its partnership with the Armory Foundation in New York City, the home of the Nike Track & Field Center that hosts more than 100 track and field meets, welcoming more than 220,000 student athletes and 300,000 visitors each year.
ADA North East began the partnership during the 2021-22 indoor track and field season and will keep its naming rights to the track-level café that features chocolate milk signage and offers locally sourced chocolate milk. Checkoff will also remain the title sponsor of the Refuel with Chocolate Milk Officials’ Hall of Fame Invitational that boasted more than 3,800 athletes this year.
As part of the renewed collaboration, the Refuel with Chocolate Milk Athletes of the Year campaign will return for the second year. The Armory will select one standout performer each month from December to March in sprints, distance and field event categories. At the conclusion of the indoor season, track fans can vote for their favorite top performer – three boys and three girls in each division to win the title. Fans will cast their votes from ADA North East’s website.
“This partnership has given us the opportunity to reach tens of thousands of athletes, and reminds them to use chocolate milk as a recovery drink,” said ADA North East CEO John Chrisman.
“We’re proud to support the incredible athletes and community at the Armory, and this sponsorship reflects our shared commitment to health, performance and building a strong future together,” said ADA North East President Audrey Donahoe, of ATRASS Farm in Claysville, N.Y. “Just as dairy fuels strong bodies, our partnership fuels opportunities for young people to chase their dreams on and off the track.”
Donahoe and ADA North East board member Skip Hardie of Walnut Ridge Farm, Groton, N.Y., along with several other dairy farmers and promoters visited the Armory in January to witness the 2025 Hall of Fame Invitational.
“I think it’s so important for dairy farmers to witness marketing like this in person,” said dairy farmer Kelly Reynolds from Reyncrest Farm, Corfu, N.Y., who attended the invitational with ADA North East. “Once milk leaves the farm, we don’t always see how it’s marketed – especially in places like New York City, so it was invigorating to see the ‘why’ of what we’re doing on the farm.”
For more information on ADA North East’s partnership with the Armory, contact American Dairy Association North East at 315.472.9143, or click here.
About American Dairy Association North East
American Dairy Association North East (ADA North East) is the dairy farmer-funded organization funded by participating dairy farmer’s checkoff investment to build demand and sales for milk and dairy foods throughout the local region. Representing about 8,000 dairy farm families in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and northern Virginia, ADA North East develops and implements local programs to drive milk and dairy sales at retail outlets and in schools. The organization also conducts consumer education about dairy through events, traditional and social media, and in collaboration with health professionals through National Dairy Council®. ADA North East works closely with Dairy Management Inc.™, the national dairy checkoff organization, to support nutrition research, national partnerships and developing export markets for dairy to bring a fully integrated promotion program to the region. For more information, visit www.AmericanDairy.com.