Yes! The Bag of Basics was developed with our earliest nonprofit partners to provide a starting point for students interested in getting started. Rarely does the bag of basics remain the same. Some nonprofit partners only have the capacity to accept non-perishable items. Some serve communities that adhere to Halal, Kosher, or vegetarian diets. Our only requirement is that you treat those you are serving with dignity. Don’t include items that you would not eat or use yourself, and make sure you are providing food and other essentials that are culturally competent.

Grocery collections typically run for 1-3 hours. This includes the collection time, the time it takes to drive to the club’s nonprofit partner, and the time spent visiting with the nonprofit partner.

Yes! Service Learning hours are hours students earn by volunteering in their community. After a collection, reach out to our team (admin@families4familiesdmv.org) and we will verify your hours!

If you are unsure if F4F will count toward your hours, we are happy to reach out to your school to check!

The amount of SSL Hours are dependent on the total amount of time it takes to complete a collection. This includes collecting, packing, transporting, and dropping off the bags as well as all the time spent planning and doing outreach in preparation for the collection. The amount of bags collected does not affect the amount of hours counted toward your SSL hours.

Collections typically take place on Saturday mornings for 1-2 hours. However, collection times and days can be altered based on what works best for your club and nonprofit partner. Clubs typically host 3-5 grocery collections per (school) year, but times and locations vary.

Typically, grocery collections take place in your school’s parking lot or pick-up/drop-off zone. This optimizes community engagement, and it is a central location for all participants. In the event you are unable to collect groceries at your school, you can use a volunteer's house, community center parking lot, or park.

F4F Student Clubs work with a variety of different nonprofit organizations that organize and gather families who are in need. Each family situation is different, but every person receiving food donations from Families4Families need the support that F4F helps provide. Take a look at our NonProfit Partners to see some of the organizations we work with!

Typically 1-2 drivers are enough to transport the groceries. If there is a surplus of groceries, then you might need more volunteers to deliver the goods!

Sign Up Genius! View an example HERE. Need help making this? Contact admin@families4familiesdmv.org

Most student leaders make a F4F Instagram account for their club and get community members to follow it. On their account, they update followers on upcoming meetings and grocery collections. They link their signups on Instagram stories and posts. Beyond this, we have seen students use sports teams, clubs, and advisories to "sponsor" collections. Several clubs raise money through bake sales, raffles or fun runs to raise money for purchasing groceries in bulk rather than ask grocery donors to shop themselves. Click here for some creative collection ideas!

The F4F team will vet and reach out to a nonprofit partner for you! If you have a nonprofit partner in mind please let us know.

After a collection, it’s important to notify the internal team of what took place. You will be sent a Post Drop Form so the team can get a better idea of all of the things that took place. Also, post your pictures from the event, and thank everyone who participated! Without them, collections could not happen.

The Post Drop Form is a Google form that shares the stats with the internal team and will be shared with you on the day of the event. This includes the amount of Bags of Basics collected, the number of volunteers at the event, pictures, and the amount of time it took for the event to take place. Try to fill this out on the day of the collection!