The Families4Families club is recruiting new members and planning its next food drive for low- income families with children to make lasting changes to their lives.
The Families4Families club’s overarching goal is to help low-income families in the DC Metro Area who are in need of basic essentials such as groceries. They achieve this goal by holding food drives all over the area, collecting groceries and delivering them to families. “The families who are receiving our food and meals benefit from our club,” junior club leader Bryson Filbert said.
Filbert’s position in the club as leader and co-founder comes with responsibilities. He often has to set up food drop-offs and meetings for planning food drive events and collections. “In my position in the club I coordinate with the families in the DC metro area and plan the drop-offs and meetings where we plan and actually collect the food that is being donated,” Filbert said.
Members of the club have around three ways that they can stay active and participate. Sometimes members stay active by just showing up to club meetings. “[Members] can stay active in the club by donating food, attending meetings, and attending drop offs where we collect the food to be donated,” Filbert said.
The club does not receive fundraising from outside organizations and only brings in food through donations made by members and other individuals. Once the food donations are collected, they are designated to families that may need them. “We do not have a fundraiser for the club, we have five drop-off plans per month where we will collect food for the families in need,” Filbert said.
The club was advertised in three different ways, in school and beyond, with word of mouth and social media being two of the biggest. This advertising brought in around 30 members this year. “I advertised the club at the club fair, by telling people I know, and using the Instagram account for the club,” Filbert said.
Members of the club have said that being a part of the club has made them feel good from a mental standpoint. Heller said, “I enjoy being a part of this club because I like helping other people,” and “This club has made me feel like a much better person.”
In the future, the Families4Families club wants to continue to help people who may have a lack of food and expand even further across the DC Metro Area to help even more people. Filbert said, “The core values are to help people in need that are currently food insecure, our future goals are to expand to be able to donate to as many families as possible.”
The club is active not only at school but also at around 110 other student-led clubs around the US, which are part of the Families4Families organization. In total, these student-led clubs around the US have delivered over 1,200,000 meals, with over 170,000 student volunteer hours.
