The holiday requests for food donations may have passed, but the need for food is only growing.
Local pantries are encouraging people to donate.
Cheryl Ruscyk, the manager of St. Mark's food pantry, is among thousands who at one point in her life, struggled to put food on the table.
Over the last year, she says she's seen an influx of people coming in hungry.
Get Connecticut local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Connecticut newsletters.
"If you come to me, I know, I've been there, and I'm gonna help you. I'm gonna help you get food," she said.
Ruscyk said her husband was laid off, so she went to her local church's pantry to get help and she does not know where she would be without it.
"You would hope if we weren't here somebody else would pick up the slack but if there were no food pantries people would be hungry," she said.
Local
Like many other pantries throughout the state, a majority of donations the pantry receives comes from Foodshare, while the rest is donated by good Samaritans.
According to Feeding America, which is the largest charity working to end hunger in the U.S., 364,040 people are facing hunger in the state of CT - 92,430 are children.
Last year, St. Mark's served 5,000 families. But they're not the only pantry seeing the rise in people needing help.
Linda Goodman, the administrator of the Little Free Pantry in Shelton said the pantry was opened in April of last year to help the community.
While it's a non-denominational pantry, it is in the parking lot of the Church of the Good Shepherd.
Goodman said she wants to break the stigma that those who need food assistance are homeless.
"They could be driving around in a 25-year-old car with the exhaust falling off and could be doing perfectly well off - they just like their car or somebody with a brand-new car, you don't know if they've been laid off, you don't know if there's family issues or financial issues...so we don't judge," Goodman said.
Both pantries accept non-expired, non-perishable items.
The Little Free Pantry is open 24/7 and St. Marks is open two days a week from 9 a.m. through 2 p.m.
For more information on how to donate or for help getting access to food, click here.
