Food for Neighbors (FFN) is a non-profit organization based in Reston, Virginia that works to help eliminate food shortages for students who do not receive meals outside of school. The FFN chapter at McLean collects and sorts food, and then distributes it to families in need. 

“Helping others is one of the most important achievements you can accomplish as you grow,” McLean FFN President Tabitha Perez said. 

McLean’s chapter of FFN is supervised by science teacher Ericka Senegar and ESOL teacher Rebecca Van Vranken.

“We will take the food to a center where all of us are going to be sorting it, repackaging it and bringing it back to [McLean’s] pantry,” Senegar said.

According to FFN, over 63,000 students in FCPS qualify for reduced price meals and experience hunger problems. With this in mind, FFN anticipates that the donated food would only last students two to three months. Nonetheless, entrepreneurship teacher and FFN participant Debra Dove remains optimistic about the organization’s cause.

“I love to think that I am helping the students I know and see in the hallways,” Dove said.  “If everyone did their small part, to gather supplies and donate, we would be making a difference in the lives of people we know.”