Potsdam Snack Pack Program
Providing weekend food assistance to students of the Potsdam School District and Potsdam Head Start
29/09/2024
New Venmo account is up and running along with PayPal! Snack Pack is stocking up on food items for the next couple of weeks of packing. There are 8 items currently in each bag including: 2 breakfast items, 1 lunch item, 4 snacks, 1 drink. Weekly cost is $4 per snack pack on average. With our numbers close to 300 already that equates to $1200 per week. This is ALL run by donations and volunteers so we need your help! In order to keep up with increased student needs and increased food pricing, we would love a donation, even better, a monthly donation. $16 per month or $160 per year will sponsor a student for the school year. Can we get each student to have a sponsor this year?!
Not into digital payment? We still really appreciate checks sent to our UPS mailbox!
28/09/2024
The Potsdam Snack Pack Program made their first delivery of the 2024-2025 school year this week! A big thank you to all of the teachers and staff and Headstart for helping get the student lists together, highlight allergies, and make sure students have their bags for the weekend!
It was wonderful to have the Thursday volunteer packing crew back together. We even had some new faces join and help!
Volunteers help to lighten the load, quite literally and donors keep us stocked with food and drink for the children. It’s quite an undertaking and we’re so happy for all of the people who are involved.
06/09/2024
New and EASY way to help the Potsdam Snack Pack Program! Drop your cans and bottles off at , mention it’s for Potsdam Snack Pack, and they’ll credit your redemption to our account! Every nickel helps with our goal of aiding childhood hunger here in Potsdam.
Big thank you to for jumping in to help us with a weekly bottle donation pickup! You guys are awesome and we really appreciate your willingness to serve the community 👏
24/08/2024
The Back to School Fair was fantastic today! These young people from messaged me yesterday saying they were coming back into town for classes this weekend and offered to run over and help this morning 🙌 they really saved us time and energy and we are so happy they’re back ☺️
24/08/2024
Back to School Fair is in FULL SWING! We’ve got lots of supplies for ALL grades. Stop in until 1pm!
24/08/2024
The Back to School Fair wouldn’t be the same without a bounce house! A big THANK YOU to for bringing this over for the kids to enjoy! See everyone tomorrow!
23/08/2024
It's FRIDAY! One more bedtime until the Potsdam Central School District Back to School Fair! We have supplies for EVERY GRADE here at Potsdam so stop on in to the HS gymnasium, grab your supplies, and have some fun from 10am-1pm!
Shout out to our PLATINUM SPONSORS: Donaldson Seymour Funeral Home, Foster the Plant Cafe, North Country Savings Bank, and St. Lawrence Health. We couldn't have events like this to support our children without your donations.
23/08/2024
We are packing school supplies for all grades! Binders, notebooks, folders, paper…following the school supply lists for each grade level to the best of our ability! A big shout out to our new sponsors today: Silver Sponsor: and Gold sponsor: We’re going out tomorrow morning to pick up more supplies thanks to you!!
Reminder: the Back to School Fair will be held Saturday August 24 from 10am-1pm at Potsdam High School gymnasium. Potsdam students will check in at the front desk and be directed to their grade level!
21/08/2024
First night of packing school supplies for the Back to School Fair. Fantastic volunteers this evening, they helped so much and we all laughed lots. I have yet to meet a young person who doesn’t like to help someone else. So much we can learn from them. ☺️
18/08/2024
Back at bass_nation Elite Tournament today! Got ALL the kids to come and help promote the tri-beach-triathlon hosted by the Town and Village of Potsdam and supporting the Snack Pack programs in the area!
If you’re out and about this week, will be collecting school supplies all week to gear up for the Back to School Fair!
17/08/2024
If you’re out and about this weekend, stop up to the tournament up in Whitaker Park on the St Lawrence River! We’re promoting the Potsdam Tri-Beach-Triathlon and collecting school supplies for the Back To School Fair!
12/08/2024
Less than two weeks to go until the Potsdam Snack Pack Program Back to School Fair for Potsdam Central School District!!
THANK YOU to everyone who has donated so far! We are still looking for sponsors, volunteers, and supplies. See the attached fliers for more information.
Do you know someone who can provide hair cuts for the kids this day? or do you know someone who can provide a fun activity for them? or even willing to donate food or prize for the event? please reach out!
03/08/2024
The Potsdam Back to School Fair is looking for SPONSORS and DONATIONS! There are different levels of sponsorships that get you a table at the event and marketing by the event. Donations can be purchased from the Amazon Wishlist (https://a.co/ffFh53J) and mailed directly to the program OR can be purchased and dropped off at Would love for anyone and everyone to help us help the kids!
30/07/2024
Thanks to the Town of Potsdam and the Villages of Norwood, Potsdam, and Hannawa Falls for celebrating such wonderful beaches and resources we have here with a triathlon connecting them. The money raised will benefit the Snack Pack Programs at Potsdam and Norwood-Norfolk ❤️ It should be a fun community event to get the school year started! Register online!
27/07/2024
We will be out and about looking for sponsors in the next couple of weeks! See the flier attached and share with your favorite business!
27/07/2024
Our Back to School Fair will be held Saturday Augst 24th from 10am-1pm for all students who attend Potsdam Central School District! Check out the flier!
21/06/2024
2023-2024 Snack Pack is a wrap! Last drop off with the kids AND Gramma and Papa helping. This year has taken the support of friends, family, teachers, staff, volunteers, donors, and more. Although the school year is over, we are already starting to plan and fundraise for Potsdam’s Back-to-School Fair. Keep your eyes peeled for ways you can help!
15/06/2024
These kids are the best team anyone could ask for. ❤️
One more week of school means one more week of Snack Packs! We hope our first year at the helm was successful and that we were able to provide, even just a little, help and support to Potsdam students.
Almost time time to start planning the Back to School Fair! 📚 ✏️
Take Small Steps....
Sometimes we hear about a situation and we walk away, even though we may sympathize or think it’s a shame that someone isn’t doing something about the problem. At other times, there’s a strong stirring inside that won’t go away, and you know that you have to take some sort of action. That’s what happened to me when I learned that children were going home from school at the end of the week, knowing that there wasn’t a lot of food to eat over the weekend. My husband and I were fairly new to The North Country and didn’t have a lot of connections, but I was told that speaking to the elementary school counselor might be a good place to start. It took several months of making cold phone calls and asking questions, but we finally connected with the right people and received approval to launch the Potsdam Snack Pack Program.
The goal of the snack pack program is to provide healthy snacks to eligible school children on weekends and holidays. Potsdam was one of the few locales that did not have a “backpack” or “snack pack” program in place, even though 47% of the elementary school students were eligible for free or reduced lunch. We wanted to ensure that no child was going hungry over the weekend, and that every child was fully prepared to be an active learner when he or she returned to school.
When the Potsdam Snack Pack Program was launched in November 2016, we were providing snack packs to just 40 elementary school students. Since then, the program has expanded to include students from Head Start to the high school level. We’re currently providing snack packs to more than 300 Potsdam Central School District students. The noted increase in the number of eligible students means that we still have a ways to go to address the food insecurity issues faced by our young students. In June of 2017 our application to join the Food Bank of Central New York was approved. Our partnership with the food bank allows us to purchase food items at a significantly reduced rate, and take advantage of their expertise and training opportunities in the areas of nutrition and food insecurity.
The Potsdam Snack Pack Program is totally dependent on the generosity and involvement of community members and organizations, and we’re extremely grateful for the support received thus far. Each snack pack contains a minimum of eight items, including a lunch item such as tuna & crackers, ravioli, or macaroni & cheese. Volunteers meet at New Hope Community Church, located at 33 Grant Street in Potsdam, once a week to prepare the snack packs. To date, volunteers have prepared more than 20,000 snack packs for local students. If we had to purchase every item in the snack packs it would cost more than $30,000. But the major food drives held throughout the year help to keep down the costs. Monetary donations are greatly appreciated as they allow us to make bulk purchases and better manage our inventory. Checks should be made out to: Potsdam Snack Pack Program, 200 Market Street #228, Potsdam, NY 13676. All donations are tax deductible due to our partnership with New Hope Community Church. Thank you for your support!
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