Champaign- A nationwide study indicates a sharp uptick in the number of Americans relying on food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters for day-to-day survival. More than 200 foodbanks nationwide participated in that study including our own local food pantry, the Eastern Illinois Foodbank. Locally the number of people in need of food spiked in the last four years. Last year the foodbank and the agencies it supplies fed more than 100,000 people, up 133% from four years ago. Now the foodbank must try to make sense of data and try to meet the need.

"We have more families, children, many more people," says Gina Stocking with the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen.

Daily Bread went from feeding 30 people a day to triple that number in just a year.

"People are struggling. Some people who do have jobs don't have money for food so they come here to supplement," she says.

A new report released by the Eastern Illinois Foodbank and Feeding America shows what local agencies have known for a while.

"We have seen explosive growth in the last four years," says Andrea Rundell with the foodbank.

By taking a census of those in our area in need the foodbank can now put a number with the faces.

"In 2005 we were serving 43,000 unduplicated people. Now 2009 over 100,000 people. So that's a huge huge jump for us," she says.

While the numbers nationally jumped 46 percent, the numbers locally skyrocketed by 133 percent in just four years.

"It is not adequate to say oh my goodness we have so many hungry people and so this actually delineates who and where and exact numbers," says Lana Ross, who helped conduct the survey.

This survey unlike previous ones shows a new group of people asking for help.

"A lot of people this is their first time. They used to be the people helping people and now I have to ask for help," says Rundell.

The Eastern Illinois Foodbank calls this the most comprehensive report ever conducted on emergency food distribution. Now that they have concrete numbers, they say it's time to work with the community and lawmakers and find solutions to the ever growing hunger problem.

Reported by Kate Springer.

Hunger Study Shows Big Jump Locally