CHICAGO - A Salvation Army shelter in a well-to-do Kansas county has an unprecedented waiting list that includes families who've lost their homes to foreclosure.
In Florida, a real estate agent who said she was having a tough time making it this year sought assistance from a food bank for herself and her children. And in Maryland, one agency that serves families says it's seeing more young, working, single mothers who move into shelters and ask family members to care for their children. They can't afford rent.
Stories like these tell of a holiday season rife with need across the country, but also what aid workers are calling a disturbing and growing need for assistance all year round.
Everywhere, people are feeling the crunch of rising gasoline and grocery prices, as well as utility bills, rent, and mortgage payments. Those factors also are cutting into people's ability to donate.
"Not only can they not give, many - for the first time - have need and are coming to us," said Melissa Temme, a spokeswoman for the Salvation Army, where stories like that of the overflow at the Johnson County Family Lodge in Kansas are becoming increasingly common.
Last year, 4.8 million Americans got holiday assistance from the Salvation Army, everything from meals and clothing to gifts. It's too early to tell if those numbers will go up this year. Though her organization generally sees a surge in giving of gifts right before Christmas, Temme says she's sensed an unease among staff about the level of need out there.
Others say the same.
"This isn't a holiday shortage, per se. This is a shortage that's been building," says Ross Fraser, a spokesman for America's Second Harvest, a domestic hunger-relief organization based in Chicago. At Thanksgiving, the organization estimates that food banks nationally were short a total of 15 million pounds of food.
Since then, his agency has heard about shortages at food banks across the country. One food bank in Dallas reports having to spend $100,000 a month buying food, because of declining donations of excess food from grocery stores and farmers. Rebecca Wagner, executive director of Community Ministry of Montgomery County, Md., also has seen the need for aid grow. "Before they were cobbling together three and four jobs to make ends meet," Wagner said. "Now that utility bill is a backbreaker. Toys and bags of oranges only go so far when you can't keep your heat on," she said.
