The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank needs help keeping up with demand and its clientele has increased by 30 percent over this time last year.

The food bank is serving 90,000 people a month, which is up from this time last year when it was serving 70,000 a month.

"People are losing their jobs, and they're losing their homes through foreclosure. Seniors on fixed incomes have to make a decision every month. 'Are we going to pay our rent? Are we going to buy our meds or are we going to buy food,'" explains Food Bank CEO Larry Zippin.

The numbers locally and nationally are a lot higher than people may think.

"We're not talking about a hundred people. We're not talking about a thousand people. We are talking about millions of people (in the nation)," says Zippin.

Zippin said he sees clients needing help now who used to be donors to the food bank.

"It includes people who you might not suspect are hungry, but they are. These are our neighbors, these are our coworkers, these are our friends. So we ask, please help them," says Zippin.

People can donate at any area Kroger by purchasing prepackaged boxes that go to the food bank.