News 12 at 6 o'clock; June 30, 2008

AIKEN, S.C & AUGUSTA, Ga. --- In these tough economic times, there is a critical need for food and fans. News 12 and Time to Care teamed up on Monday to help the cause.

It's a fan going nowhere fast, so Mary Ellen Hanna fanned into gear.

"It was just sitting here never being used in my closet and I thought, what a good cause to give it to," says Mary Ellen.

Fans to cool and food to feed are two critical needs in this tough economic time.

"I can't imagine how many people on a very fixed income or very poor people can afford to even survive today," says Mary Ellen.

South Carolina's Golden Harvest Food Bank is seeing double now, double the amount of those needing help.

"When the numbers double, the amount of food we need to have in has to double," says Randy Marsh, Director of South Carolina's Golden Harvest in Aiken.

Last year, they have just over 2.3 million pounds of food. This year, they expect to give out about 4 million pounds of food.

"People who were making it on maybe minimum wage just can't make it anymore. They may be able to take care of their rent and electric bill, but they don't have enough to go around to provide their food," says Marsh.

"Just share, share what we can," says Mary Ellen.

The food bank is feeling more than just the pinch in stocking up, too.

"What's happening is we've had to increase our fleet of trucks and the fuel bill has gone up. We've had to increase staff," says Marsh.

Here's one simple message for all to hear.

"Share. Share the wealth that we feel fortunate everyday to be able to eat ourselves, even if we have to cut back," says Mary Ellen.

You can donate anytime to the Golden Harvest Food Bank. For every dollar you give, they can turn that into $7 worth of money for the Food Bank to use.