In the past year, record numbers of western Montana residents have turned to local food pantries and shelters for help.

Across Missoula, agencies at the forefront of this unwelcome trend believe the increased demand is due to the recession. More specifically, more people can't find work in this tight labor market and can't afford regular meals, said Bill Payne, associate director of the Missoula 3:16 Rescue Mission.

These days, the mission is serving about 80 to 90 meals a day - up by 50 percent from last year - and is stretched to provide other services.

"We are getting hit hardest with more women and kids than ever before," Payne said. "The number we now serve has more than doubled in the past year and a half. In 2007-08 we housed seven to eight women in motels, and in '09 we have put 25 women and 42 kids up in a motel."

"Usually these women come out of situations where they were working and lost their job - and their homes," Payne said. "We try to get them into a motel for about a month because there's always a gap for them before they get into the Salvation Army or YWCA programs. We try to fill that gap until other programs can kick in."

At the Missoula Food Bank, serving more than 5,000 clients in a month used to be an all-time record. In the past two years, that number has become a steady head count, said Nick Roberts, the pantry's development director.

"It began in 2008 - that was a monumental year," Roberts said. "We saw more people than ever and set monthly records twice in our 26-year history. In June we hit 5,300 and broke that again in November."

"We aren't that far off of those numbers this September and we are in that range again," he said. "There have been some dips and peaks, but we have seen our numbers climbing again."

Like the clients who are served by the Missoula Rescue Mission, those who turn to the Missoula Food Bank are people who struggle to make ends meet. Often, it's a matter of choosing between eating, paying rent and paying down a medical bill, or dealing with some unexpected misfortune like a car repair or leaky roof, Roberts said.

"Most of our clients are not transients. They are everyday Missoula residents who work but don't have enough at the end of the month," he said.

To help ease the pang of hunger and provide hope to those in need, the Town Pump Charitable Foundation is spearheading a fundraising campaign to help Montana food banks. The goal is to raise more than $1.5 million, and as part of the campaign, the Town Pump Charitable Foundation will match up to $300,000 in contributions made to statewide food banks now through Nov. 30.

Locally, the foundation will match up to $30,000 total on behalf of the Missoula Food Bank, Missoula Rescue Mission and the Poverello Center.

The money raised for each organization will be used to purchase perishable food items such as milk, bread, fruit and vegetables.

"This kind of partnership is important because the funds will give us buying power the public does not have," Roberts said. "We leverage prices no one else can, and we get food at cost or below cost locally or regionally."

The Missoula Food Bank appreciates donations of any kind - be it volunteer labor, food or cash, Roberts said. But it really appreciates big chunks of money, the kind the Town Pump fundraising program will bring in.

"With those kinds of funds we get to be more cost-effective, and we can choose what we need at any time and have the freedom to fill in staples when they get unexpectedly depleted."

Financial donations - especially when they are matched by others, such as the Town Pump Charitable Foundation - are gifts that make a tremendous difference for everyone connected to the Missoula Food Bank.

It means the Food Bank doesn't run out of food for the needy. It means people always have somewhere to go to put food on the table.

One of the hard truths about Missoula is that hunger is on the rise according to the increasing numbers at the Food Bank.

"We are treating our services as if we have entered a whole new chapter," Roberts said. "We are saying it's a whole new era, not a trend. We are acting as if it is because we have been at an increased level of service - and have been trying to extend our capacity to meet the needs of our clients since a year and a half ago."

Last year, the Town Pump Charitable Foundation raised a record $1.45 million for food banks statewide. In its seven years, the campaign has raised a total of $4.9 million.

"Each year we have seen a growing number of Montanans struggling to make ends meet," said Maureen Kenneally, of the Town Pump Foundation. "While other charitable efforts have declined, we have seen an increase in support for our Montana food banks, proving that together we make a difference."

Reporter Betsy Cohen can be reached at 523-5253 or at bcohen@missoulian.com.