Running Brook Elementary in Columbia, Maryland had so many students quarantining the week before winter break that the school's Blessings in a Backpack program had several unclaimed bags of ready-to-eat food.​ So program coordinator Andrea Frank sent an email to Running Brook families, letting them know that they were welcome to come to school to pick up the food if their child was absent.

"I honestly wasn't expecting many, if any, to take me up on the offer," shared Andrea.