About Us – High Schoolers for Front Liners

Our Origin Story

High Schoolers for Front Liners was co-founded by Allison Moon in 2020 March. After recognizing the pressing need for Personal Protective Gear and realizing that several front line workers were sewing their very own masks, Allison began HSFL to provide a source of unfiltered support for those most impacted by the pandemic. Inspired by the idea to always remain proactive, she reached out to students in her local area to build a group of students who were willing to donate their time to sewing masks.

Initially, HSFL provided homemade masks for hospitals, but soon they branched out to detention centers as well. Detention centers often have higher rates of infection as inmates have limited medical supplies, live in crowded dormitories, and share bathrooms. They also reached out to several children’s centers to provide masks for children in need.

HSFL is compromised of many volunteers of ages and skill levels throughout the DC metropolitan area. Anyone can become a volunteer!

2022

A New Chapter

I started High Schoolers For Front Liners alongside my sister, Allison Moon, in 2020 March. After spending hours each day helping cut fabric and elastic, I took charge of packaging, managed the pick-up/drop-off station, and slowly became more involved with the organization over time.

After two years of watching the non-profit grow, I became President of HSFL during the Summer of 2022 with the goal of expanding HSFL’s mission. As HSFL became a more established organization, I wanted to help scale and expand HSFL to undertake new initiatives while still upholding the core values of our non-profit.

Since 2022, we’ve continued to scale HSFL. Leading multiple new initiatives including fundraising events for various organizations during times of humanitarian crisis and expanding the reach of our volunteers, I am proud of how HSFL has continued to thrive. With new partners such as the UN Refugee Agency, Achieving Collegiate Excellences and Success (ACES MCPS), the Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association (MCR-SGA), the Montgomery Country Volunteer Center, and Montgomery County Humane Society, HSFL has been able to donate over $50,000. Our volunteers are home to 47+ new middle and high schools and we have expanded our volunteers by 2,000 members.

HSFL has served as an incredible launch pad for students to create community impact to those in need. We hope to continue serving our community with our incredibly hard-working student volunteers and amazing partners!

2025

Our Next Chapter

If I had to sum up my entire time with HSFL with one experience, I would think back to Christmas Eve of 2023. That day, I spent several hours at the MedStar Washington Hospital Center handing out heart pillows and lap blankets to patients and nurses. While we were at home— or returning home— to spend time with our families and friends for the holidays, dozens of nurses and doctors were working tirelessly to ensure that their patients got the care that they needed; and as I visited room after room, every patient expressed a similar hope: that they could be home for the holidays.

The experience was bittersweet. While I was incredibly grateful that I could provide support for them in whatever way that I could, I hoped that I could do more. I hoped that I could cure their illnesses and heal their injuries, I hoped I could work a shift in place of a nurse or doctor, and I hoped that I could bring them home for the holidays.

But the most I could do at that moment was to serve and support these nurses, doctors, and patients by leaving them with pillows to soften their beds and lap blankets to keep them warm. After hundreds of hugs, handshakes, and thank you’s, I left the hospital center, but my hopes never left me.

It is my ultimate hope that High Schoolers for Front Liners continues to embody this idea: to do the most with what we have. I want to thank the thousands of volunteers that have built and shaped HSFL into an organization that continues— every day— to embody that idea. This organization has provided me so many opportunities to give back to my community and learn about the incredible work front liners are doing every day. As I lead HSFL forward, I hope it will be an organization of compassion and empathy, and I hope we will continue to give back to front liners and people in need throughout our communities.