Senior Citizens Project

The PHS Positivity Club's Seniors' Project is designed and dedicated to reaching the untouched demographic of people in Potsdam in need of food: senior citizens. With our growing food market and our diverse and capable student volunteers, we believe we can create a true difference and impact in the Potsdam senior community. 

With the $10,000 grant we have received from KFC, we have purchased Surface Pro laptop kiosks for each senior residence. From those laptops, seniors and staff can order food every week from our food market. Items such as canned soup, canned vegetables, personal hygiene products, and more are all available for free, for everyone.

Student volunteers from P2 have also helped to train faculty and seniors at the complexes on how to place their orders. Orders are then delivered to each apartment building for seniors to pick up. 

Much like the rest of the Positivity Club, the food market is student-run and action-oriented. Kevin Bou-Abdallah and Halle Varney are the Senior Citizen Program's co-coordinators. They assist with directing and efficiency at each of the apartment complexes we serve, along with additional complexes we hope to serve in the future. 

Many seniors in our rural, underserved county live in poverty or just above the poverty line. Food insecurity amongst older adults is a critical issue, and many of these individuals do not have access to healthy, nutritious foods. Our project meets their needs and accomplishes so much more, uniting our youth community with senior citizens. We create a bond between two generations - as our youth teach these seniors how to use technology, the seniors will share their years of wisdom and teachings with them.

There is nothing more sacred and rewarding than one hand reaching across generations and lifting each other up. This program creates a window for relationships to develop between community members that may not have interacted otherwise, and it has been incredibly moving to witness. 

Our senior citizen project aims to provide food relief to the senior citizen community in Potsdam, New York. As an added benefit to our initial goal, we've managed to create meaningful connections between generations, offering new opportunities for both the students that have worked so hard to put this together and the citizens we serve.