300 Packs, 396 Individuals: A Week of Community Support in the DMV

We are community. That is what it looked like in Washington DC when Stronghold spent four days standing alongside military families facing food insecurity.

Both events shared one purpose: to make sure military families know their community has their back. Here is what those four days looked like.

Saturday, August 22: Local Youth Give Back to Military Families

It started on Saturday evening, with a parking lot full of energy (and plenty of late-August humidity). Three hundred youth from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined Washington Commanders Command Force, volunteers, families, and community partners, to pack 300 Hunger Buster Packs for military kids facing food insecurity.

Each pack is a reminder to a military kid that their community sees them, especially with a new school year just getting underway. Watching that many young people show up with willing hands and generous hearts, all working toward one goal, is the kind of night that stays with you.

By the time the packing wrapped, all 300 Hunger Buster Packs were ready to head into local military homes. But the road had a plan of its own. The U-Haul carrying all 300 packs to their next stop broke down Saturday night, but it was fixed and road-ready again within the hour, packs and all. Not even a break down can stop our mission.

Tuesday, August 25: Fresh Groceries for Military Families at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall

Three days later, the team was back at it, this time on installation at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall for a Pop-Up Pantry.

Military families came through to pick up fresh groceries and the Hunger Buster Packs that were assembled just days earlier. The commissary also donated 80 bags of non-perishables, adding even more to what families carried home that day.

By the end of the pantry, 396 people had been supported with well-rounded fresh groceries, and every one of the 300 Hunger Buster Packs had reached a family who needed it.

Four Days, By the Numbers

• 300 youth packed Hunger Buster Packs for local military kids

• 300 Hunger Buster Packs packed and distributed

• 396 people supported with fresh groceries at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall

• Hundreds of pounds of fresh food distributed

• 80 bags of non-perishables donated by the commissary

  
  

What This Says About Our Community

None of this happens without people willing to show up. Whether that means packing boxes on a Saturday night or handing a family their groceries on a Tuesday morning. Military families are seen, supported, and cared for because people choose to make it so.

Thank you to the youth, Washington Commanders Command Force, and the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall community for hosting us. And thank you to every volunteer who packed a box, loaded a car, or handed a family their groceries across those four days. That week belonged to all of you. We are stronger together, and Washington DC proved it again.

Weeks like this one are exactly why Kansas Governor Laura Kelly declared September Military Family Hunger Action Month and named Stronghold directly. The need is real and well documented, and it's happening in communities like this one right now.

This Hunger Action Month, your gift puts 21 meals per family member on a military family's table. Donate now and help us keep showing up.