The club Families 4 Families brings awareness to families in need all over the DMV, by donating, fundraising and packing food for those in need.

Junior Elena Filbert introduced this school to Families 4 Families during her sophomore year. Filbert said, “I started it to help families in need who were struggling with food insecurities. This is important to me because it makes me realize how fortunate I am and how much it can help others.”

Filbert was adamant about starting this club to raise awareness about hungry families and spread information to the broader community. Families 4 Families is a large nonprofit organization that has been spread across middle schools and high schools in the DMV and across the U.S.. Each school is paired with a local nonprofit organization, then they meet up to pack food.
Junior Ines Evehe has been a member of this club since the beginning and said, “In this club we meet up at a location to pack food and donate food for families that need help. We do this to help people that are less fortunate.”
These clubs collect groceries called “bags of basics.” They are basics that families need to get through a couple days or a week. Families 4 Families has made its way around the school and has become quite popular, Evehe said it “makes you feel nice knowing you’re helping someone in need.”
A new member to the club, junior Jadyn Welsh said, “I heard about this club and felt it was very important because we all need to realize that there are so many people that are in need and it gives me the opportunity to use my privilege as a way to help others.”

This organization is based on compassion for people in need and wanting to help those who don’t have everything that they do. According to Filbert, this club meets five times out of the year and plans the next time they are going to pack. Then every month on a Saturday they go to their location for F4F to pack and sort food.

Families 4 Families was founded in 2020 by the Marshall family to address food emergencies during Covid, and still goes on now after almost three years to help all families in need not only because of Covid. Families 4 Families use social media to advertise their organization. The Families 4 Families Instagram shows groups of people who have helped out, places and days that people are able to pack food and facts about world hunger and how people can help.
Schools and the DMV have Instagram accounts as well for the club advertising their
schools’ part in the organization, as well as the website, which is one of the main information sources for background on how the organization was founded, the roles of the members, and how the community can help.