Site Content
Additional Information
St. Lawrence County is one of the poorest counties in New York State. According to the most recent statistics provided by the SLC Community Development Program, 27.1% of children under 18 are living in poverty. Each week hundreds of children leave school knowing that there may not be sufficient food at home.
The Potsdam Snack Pack Program was started at Lawrence Avenue Elementary School as a way to meet an identified need. With the support of the Potsdam Lions Club and New Hope Community Church, the program was officially launched on November 4, 2016. For some students, the snack pack provides a little "extra" food to get them through the weekend. For others, it may be a very different story.
The number of students receiving snack packs each week has steadily increased over the past few years, from 40 in 2016 to more than 400 during the 2021-2022 school year (our highest overall total). By the end of the 2022-2023 school year, volunteers had prepared a total of 11,173 snack packs for more than 340 local students. Each snack pack contained a minimum of eight items, including one lunch meal, two breakfast items, and other snacks.
Since the launch of the snack pack program, we have experienced a steady growth of support from individuals, local businesses, and service organizations. As an all-volunteer organization with no overhead, we rely on the donations from the community to purchase food items for the program.
One of the added benefits of overseeing the snack pack program is all the wonderful, caring, and giving individuals I get to meet on a daily basis. We also have a dedicated group of volunteers who work diligently to prepare the snack packs and take care of any incidental issues that may arise. Without their ongoing commitment to the program, we would not be able to provide the current level of support to our young students. We're also grateful to all the people who believe in the work that we're doing and care enough to help us serve students from some of the most under resourced families in our community. Thank you for your support!
Laurell Brault
Executive Director
Related Item
As a member of the Food Bank of Central New York, we are required to have an official food policy that governs the type of items we can include in the snack pack. We are committed to eliminating foods that are high in calories and low in nutrient density. Candy and soda are normally not included in snack packs, and we discourage collecting those items during our food drives.