STUDENT SPOTLIGHTS
Families4Families is its student leaders. F4F provides the playbook, the coaching, and helps spread the word, but without driven, passionate and innovative student leaders, the work would not be possible.
Here, we recognize some of our best and brightest student leaders as they work to ignite change in their communities.
ELENA FILBERT
As the President of Wootton High School’s Families4Families Student Club, Elena has led over 15 successful grocery collections to support Hope and a Home. Now a senior, Elena credits F4F with igniting her passion for nonprofit work. She says F4F brought her clarity and assurance that her future lies in a career in service.
Elena is an exceptional leader. Her natural passion and enthusiasm shine through as she motivates peers to attend collections and keeps everyone organized at the collection site. She’s also played a key role in F4F’s program development, advising staff on mentoring materials, club expansion, and multimedia content.
Her dedication to F4F’s purpose has been invaluable, and the F4F team is looking forward to cheering her on as a member of our alumni network.
“F4F has made me feel so fortunate for the the things I have in life. I didn’t realize people in my community struggled with food insecurity as much as they do, and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to help. Thanks to F4F, I can do so much more for my community than I thought I could.”
CONRAD BRADY
During his time as the President of Landon School’s Families4Families Student Club, Conrad rose the bar on what it means to be an F4F Student Leader. When he started in the fall of 2020, 15-20 students attended the Saturday morning grocery collections to support Jubilee Jumpstart. At his final collection in the spring of 2023, over 100 students from multiple schools showed up.
A proud proponent of what he calls “positive peer pressure,” Conrad relied of previously established friend groups from athletics and other extracurriculars to recruit student volunteers and find people willing to donate groceries.
In August 2023, Conrad started attending and playing soccer for Penn State University. He has passed the Landon F4F torch to Mac Marshall, but not to be outdone, he has started an F4F Club at PSU with his new teammates.
“Families4Families has certainly changed the culture we have at Landon regarding community service, and the culture we have regarding community in general. Obviously, its opened the doors for so many opportunities in my life regarding service and connections and life outside of Landon, but I also really appreciate the value of community service in a way I otherwise might not.”
REBECCA EIGNER
Rebecca Eigner is one of the most hard-working, kind-hearted and naturally entrepreneurial students in F4F’s Student Leader network. As the President of Bullis School’s Families4Families Student Club, she’s developed deep relationships with multiple nonprofit leaders and members of the community. As an F4F Summer Fellow, she assisted with our expansion efforts and acted as a consultant on our marketing and communication strategies.
In August 2021, Hameedi, his wife, and five children fled their home in Afghanistan due to direct threats from the Taliban. They landed in Washington, D.C. and sought asylum as refugees. When Rebecca heard the story through the Families4Families team, she immediately mobilized friends and family to start collecting groceries. Meanwhile, Hameedi began identifying other refugees in his apartment complex who had similarly been displaced by the Taliban and were in need of food and basic supplies. Hameedi and Rebecca began organizing monthly grocery delivery events at the complex to help these asylum seekers as well. Less than two years later, Hameedi has a full-time job that provides him with enough income to provide his family with all necessities. As of February 2023, all refugees in Hameedi's community network are employed and no longer in need of any form of public assistance.
An article written about Rebecca and the Bullis F4F Club can be found here. It details the incredible story of Hameedi, an Afghan refugee turned community leader, and the chapter’s collaboration with him to help several refugees fleeing the Taliban meet their basic needs and ultimately become self-sustaining. Rebecca and the Bullis Chapter now support Friendship Place.
“Families4Families has made me a better leader. I’ve become more organized, better at time management, and able to better motivate my peers to get involved. Before I started with F4F, I knew I wanted a career where I would be helping people. F4F has helped push that passion even further and helped gear me toward what I want to major in for college.”
Matt Buckley
During his time as the President of the Walt Whitman High School Families4Families Student Club, Matt transformed how F4F Collections functioned. He was one of the first student leaders to develop Chapter-specific branded content, including social media graphics and posters to hang around the school. He was also one of the first student leaders to adapt the Bag of Basics to meet the giving capabilities of his school community, as well as the needs of the school’s nonprofit partner, Access Youth.
As a response to donor fatigue his junior year of high school, Matt prompted the Whitman Club to break the Bag of Basics into lists they call “shop the aisle.” Grocery shoppers, in teams of four, would buy grains, fruits and vegetables, dairy and juice, and meat, respectively. Following this tactic, the Whitman F4F Student Club collected over 50,000 meals to support Access Youth during Matt’s junior and senior year.
Starting fall 2024, Matt will attend Tulane University. He has passed the Whitman F4F Club Presidency on to his brother, Mark Buckley, who will continue to build the club and support Access Youth.
James Marshall
Families4Families would not exist without James and his brothers. James transformed a neighborhood COVID relief service into a national student-led initiative when he took Families4Families to Maret School in September 2020. Relying on his peers, his school community, and his deep relationship with nonprofit Life Pieces to Masterpieces, James founded the first Families4Families Student Club.
Now a senior, James fulfills many roles in F4F. He sits on the F4F Board of Directors, spearheads F4F multimedia projects like the 2023 Students Making a Difference video campaign, and leads the Maret F4F Student Club. This year, he’s taking on an additional role as mentor to the next generation of F4F Leaders, James Velasco and James Lampkin (yes, they are both also named James).
“It’s been remarkable to see how many people have come out to support us and this cause. People are willing to spend a lot of time, energy, and money on this goal and this mission. It shows that there’s a lot of good in the world. You might not see it on the news, but a lot of people are willing to help others. And that’s a very beautiful thing I’ve gotten to watch for the last three years.”
Kara Dell
Kara Dell embodies what it means to be a social entrepreneur. During her time at Northwest Guilford High School, Kara has organized Fun Runs, Hot Cocoa Get Togethers, and Easter Egg Hunts complete with an ice cream truck, a 50/50 raffle, games, and real bunnies! The entry cost for all NWGSO F4F events is one food item per participant, and all donations support Spartan Open Pantry.
Kara has worked closely with Families4Families’ staff to help student clubs across the country plan and execute events similar to her club’s. She designs her own graphics and manages NWGSO F4F’s social media, which credits with recruiting her chapter’s 50+ members and the events’ 100+ attendees. Kara is a natural leader with core values of altruism, compassion, and strength through teamwork.
