Americans in droves will be gathering with family for a Thanksgiving Day feast, but millions of families will need help this holiday season just to stay fed. Rising food prices and a tough job market have food banks across the country struggling to keep up with a rising tide of people in need of help.

Even in 2007, before the economy took a turn for the worse, a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture said there were 36.2 million Americans struggling to get enough food to eat. About one out of three of those people went hungry at times. Many of those people have steady work, but it doesn’t pay enough to meet rising costs for housing and food. An article published by Reuters says the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank has seen demand rise by 41% from a year ago. Similar circumstances have been reported by food banks in Massachusetts, Arizona, Texas and many other states, but “donations aren’t keeping up.”

Local food drives are excellent for getting healthy food to hungry people and raising awareness among the more fortunate, but there are other ways to help. Feeding America is a nonprofit organization, formerly known as Second Harvest. The organization has a food bank locator on its website to make it easy to find a place nearby where you can bring food for those who need it.

Bringing food to a local food bank is a big help, but writing a check can be a very effective way to fight the problem. “For every $1 you donate, Feeding America helps provide 20 pounds of food and grocery products to men, women and children facing hunger in our country.”

To learn more about how you can help, find a nearby food bank, and make donations go to: Feeding America

If you’d like to read the Reuters article cited above go to: Will food banks need a bailout?