News 12 This Morning, March 18, 2009

AUGUSTA, Ga. --- It's something Jannie Streetman has been doing for more than 10 years. Volunteering.

"It's a good place to be and if you've been working your whole life, and if you've been working your whole life like myself, when you retire or get laid off, you want to be busy. You just can't sit home. You need to keep moving," Jannie Streetman said.

Jannie volunteers at the Golden Harvest Food Bank in Augusta. She stocks the shelves and checks the dates on each container, and separates the good from the bad. But unlike Jannie, some people are just now starting to volunteer. Golden Harvest Food Bank says they've seen a 10% increase in volunteers so far this year. They say it's because of the high unemployment rate and the high demand for food.

"Our food distribution is up about 20% across the boards. So that translates into almost 7,700 pounds of food more we're putting out each day. So we need a lot more hands to help do that," Barry Forde said.

And the same thing is happening over at Safe Homes of Augusta.

"I've got a lot of time on my hands and I want to be useful, and I want to do something productive," Shannon Stoddard said.

Safe Homes of Augusta is a domestic violence intervention center. They serve women and children who are victims of domestic violence. Volunteers help them get jobs, and babysit. They also do yard work, answer phones, administrative work, and help with the 24-hour crisis hotline. Right now, safe homes has 40 active volunteers, and since January, 45 more people have called or signed up to volunteer.

"I think a lot of it has to do with the economy and people being out of work, and people wanting to help in any way possible," Stoddard said.

And they're volunteering at a time when many people need help the most.