Staffers at local food banks assumed that things could not get any worse than last year. At that time, the economy appeared to be at its worst point, and many people across the region found themselves out of work and unable to find a new job. Food banks, in turn, experienced the single biggest season of need they had seen.

This year, though, as financial news improves and the economy begins to pick up, instead of seeing the need dissipate, food banks such as Food for Others are receiving more requests for assistance than ever before. In response, Our Daily Bread, a volunteer organization that serves low-income families, has launched a community-wide food drive for the third consecutive year to help ensure that all families in need in the county are provided for during the holiday season.

“With the high cost of living in our area and the higher unemployment rate, working families are having a difficult time making ends meet,” said Our Daily Bread’s Lisa Whetzel. “All it takes is an unexpected medical bill or car repair to break the budget for these families.”

According to Whetzel, Our Daily Bread organized a cooperative effort among local non-profits in which SHARE of Reston, Fairfax’s Food for Others, Fairfax United Methodist Church, Reston Bible Church and Annandale Christian Community in Action will each send volunteers every Saturday through Dec. 12 to the Safeway at Courthouse Plaza in the City of Fairfax to collect non-perishable food items. Then, each group will package the food and bring it back to its respective food pantry.

“This is a great opportunity for us to increase the food that is coming in,” said Roxanne Rice, Food for Others executive director. “We’re seeing more and more people come to us with a need, so we take advantage of any opportunity to get more food.”

This year, the food drive began Saturday, Nov. 7, with representatives from SHARE and Our Daily Bread present to take donations. According to Our Daily Bread Volunteer Howard Lee, each of the groups will hand out a small card detailing the event, and which items they need, to shoppers as they enter the Safeway in the hopes that they will donate something on the way out.

“They go inside and shop, and we ask them to provide an extra item on the way out,” Lee said. “We’ve gotten a pretty good response. I’ve filled two carts myself.”

Due to the increased number of requests for assistance at food banks, Our Daily Bread has made an effort to step up its food collection at this year’s drive. Lee said that while non-perishable food is always the best option for donations, Our Daily Bread has a freezer this year, so he can collect bread and meat, as well. In addition, Lee said that this year in particular, the food banks are asking people to donate vegetable oil because it has so many uses in cooking.

“We usually ask for anything that is non-perishable, but we do have a freezer now, so we can take some perishable items,” Lee said. “Some things, like vegetable oil, are in high demand, but with the economy in such poor shape, we will take anything this year.”

Though having more work is not necessarily mean a good thing in the food bank world, the groups involved with the food drive are nonetheless thrilled with that they see. Rice said that while aid requests are increasing, the generosity of the community during the holiday season more than covers the growing need, making Our Daily Bread and their partners’ mission a success only one week into operations.

“We’re not simply a holiday organization,” Rice said. “However, people in this community are so generous in the holiday season that we get enough food to use throughout the year. The event is quite effective, and has really helped us.”