Add a std::packaged_task to an existing thread?

Is there an standard way to add a std::packaged_task to an existing thread? There's a nontrivial amount of overhead that must happen before the task is run, so I want to do that once, then keep the thread running and waiting for tasks to execute. I want to be able to use futures so I can optionally get the result of the task and catch exceptions.

My pre-C++11 implementation requires my tasks to inherit from an abstract base class with a Run() method (a bit of a pain, can't use lambdas), and having a std::deque collection of those that I add to in the main thread and dequeue from in the worker thread. I have to protect that collection from simultaneous access and provide a signal to the worker thread that there's something to do so it isn't spinning or sleeping. Enqueing something returns a "result" object with a synchronization object to wait for the task to complete, and a result value. It all works well but it's time for an upgrade if there's something better.