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It is a quiet crisis.

At South Lake Elementary School in Gaithersburg, teachers started buying food for kids to take home, and 11 students in the Head Start program couldn't play outside at recess because they didn't have coats.

At Gaithersburg Elementary School, students take turns receiving food for the weekends because there are not enough donations for each child who needs a care package to receive one every week.

More than ever, upcounty families are turning to schools for help to feed their children. School staff and parents — and the community at large — have responded in force, but the number of families with young children struggling to survive continues to increase.

"There's a need schools will try to fulfill because they're a trusted source," said Kimberly Chin, director of Maryland Hunger Solutions.

Many parents have been hit by job loss or foreclosure and are making difficult decisions on where to cut corners in tight family budgets. Food pantries and emergency assistance groups have been overwhelmed, leaving many to seek help elsewhere.

"We're spending a lot more time doing social work, and we're also noticing families who haven't experienced poverty before need help," said Gaithersburg Elementary Principal Niki Hazel.

Fox Chapel Elementary School in Germantown participates in the nonprofit Manna Food Center's Smart Sacks program, which distributes backpacks filled with healthy snacks and meals to needy students on Friday afternoons. The number of Fox Chapel students registered in the program grew from 24 students last school year to 48 this year, the maximum amount of backpacks per school provided by Manna.

Manna provides food to approximately 650 students at 22 elementary schools, according to Karen Goldberg, the nonprofit's Smart Sacks manager. Gaithersburg Elementary and Arcola Elementary in Silver Spring also receive the maximum amount of backpacks, Goldberg said. The cap was instituted because Manna does not have enough food to give to every student who needs it, she said.

At Gaithersburg Elementary, 104 students are registered in Smart Sacks, according to Diana Tato, the school's Linkages to Learning coordinator. The children are split into two groups and receive a backpack every other week.

"Every Friday, I hope that some kids are absent so we have enough," Tato said.

Helping fill some of the gaps is Women Who Care Ministries. The community outreach group provides backpacks of food to 175 students at seven elementary schools on Friday afternoons and hopes to add a dozen more schools, including one middle school, by mid-April, according to founder Judith Clark. Like with Smart Sacks, schools keep the children's participation confidential.

The Montgomery Village Foundation began its own campaign, the Food for Schools drive, in November with the Covenant United Methodist Church in Montgomery Village after hearing that staff members at South Lake Elementary in Gaithersburg were buying food for students.

The food is distributed on Fridays in backpacks provided by the school so the students don't stand out.

The teachers noticed that some needy students were inattentive or lethargic, according to South Lake Assistant Principal Orinda Nelson. Some students are reluctant to come forward for help, while others are more blunt, she said.

 "Sometimes the kids will come out and tell you ‘I'm really hungry' or ‘We didn't have any dinner last night,'" Nelson said, adding that many of the children had moved in with relatives for financial reasons and are new to the area.

The foundation's initiative began as a holiday food drive. Donations of cash, food and gift cards are being collected throughout the school year, and volunteers have dropped off individual shopping bags with about $20 worth of food each at the schools five times since November.

"Food pantries are just inundated," said state Sen. Nancy King (D-Dist. 39) of Montgomery Village, a volunteer with the project. "You go to Gaithersburg HELP right now and they don't give you food, they give you a number… We just really felt like we needed to do something to supplement that."

So far, the foundation has collected $1,850 in cash and $1,425 in gift cards from residents, local businesses and the Montgomery Village Rotary Club, according to David Humpton, executive vice president of the foundation. A South Lake teacher also brought 80 coats to the school in October, and the PTA president purchased gloves and scarves, Nelson said.

"I think there has been an unknown need for a period of time, but the economy has created a greater problem for the working poor," said volunteer Jane Hatch, president of Northgate Homes Corp. "Food costs have gone up significantly over the last year, energy costs. Several of our families have just lost their jobs, they're single parents and they're not making ends meet anymore. So the people who were right on the brink, went over."