BALLSTON SPA — The Ballston Spa Central School District’s partnership program has again received generous funding from the Ballston Spa Elks Lodge #2619. Representatives from the organization presented their annual donation and received recognition from the district during a recent Board of Education meeting.
The Ballston Spa Elks Lodge continues to be a consistent supporter of the Scotties BackPack Program. For the 2022-23 school year, they have increased their annual support to $6,500 to assist with supplying weekend meals to students who may otherwise go without.
In collaboration with the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, the district launched the Scotties BackPack Program in 2017, and currently serves students in all four elementary schools. The program provides easy-to-prepare food to selected students each week to consume throughout the weekend.
Meeting nutritional needs helps ensure students are ready to learn when they return to school. The program originally provided weekend meals to 30 students and now serves more than 190 students in the district.
The cost for one student for the school year has increased from $183 to $228 for the 2022-23 school year. This increase means an additional $9,000 will need to be raised to support the same number of students as last year. Revenue to support the program is raised by individual and corporate donations as well as through any available grant sources.
