Poverty and hunger are among the many challenges some students face on a daily basis and often become a barrier to their success in school. Bright Futures Frederick/Winchester developed the weekend Food Pack Program to address the ongoing problem. The Food Pack Program aims to help families who experience food insecurity by offering a bag of food that children can take home with them on Friday to help get them through their weekend until their next school meal on Monday morning.

The Food Pack Program currently serves over 1,400 students at all grade levels in all Frederick County and Winchester City Public Schools each week.

Each food pack includes enough food to cover two breakfasts and two lunches. The food packs also include fruit, vegetables, and drinks. The food is all donated or provided by donated dollars and then purchased by Bright Futures.

Each month, over 4,800 food packs are provided to students. More than 40,000 non-perishable food items are needed monthly to meet the current need.

Each Food Pack is made possible by 100% volunteer manpower. Rotating teams of volunteers from community organizations come to Bright Futures to assemble the food bags.