Charities Are Falling Short in Their Efforts to Feed the Hungry : Holiday aid: Some families may be turned away because of a drop-off in donations, coupled with rising food costs.

As Christmas draws near, lines of people waiting for food in front of indigent aid centers are getting longer, so charities say some families may be turned away.

While the number of the county’s needy families has increased, a drop-off in donations, coupled with rising food costs, have made it difficult for food distribution centers to give as much as they did during previous holiday seasons, the representatives said.

“Two years ago, we had a lot of food donations,” said Dee Warbington, program director for the Catholic Charities Outreach Program in Santa Ana.

“This year, we haven’t received that much. There are many out there who need a lot this year, but we can’t help.”

Catholic Charities food center opens three mornings a week, with people lining up as early as 7:30 a.m., Warbington said. During the holidays last year, the program gave away 60 to 65 food bags daily. This season, the number of bags has almost doubled, she said, but it’s still not enough.

“Now, there are days when we cut off after a hundred, telling (people) to come back tomorrow,” Warbington said.

Share Our Selves in Costa Mesa also had to cut back the food and gifts for the area’s needy, said its director, Jean Forbath.

The agency’s Adopt-a-Family program has linked 900 families with individual and business sponsors, but that is 300 short of the number of families that signed up to receive Christmas donations, she said.

“The needs are greater this year than any year I’ve seen since 1982,” Forbath said. “Not only are the prices of food very high, we are getting more of the homeless and the poorest of the poor.”

Warbington and Forbath blamed the downturn in the economy for the influx of needy families to the agencies and a drop-off in giving.

“People who ordinarily give are maybe having a hard time themselves,” Warbington said. “The need is more this year, but people have less to give.”

Jim Palmer of Orange County Rescue Mission in Santa Ana said the mission has just half of the supply it needs to give to families on its waiting list.

However, he is optimistic that more donations will come in time for Christmas.

While the mission continues to receive support from the county, Palmer said, “It’s just not as fast as we expected.”

Anticipating this year’s decrease in donations, many of the agencies have formed coalitions to solicit more support from larger charities to make up for the deficits in local support.

The Neighborhood Service Center in Santa Ana had to dip into money donated by United Way to pay some of the cost of feeding the poor, said its director, Mary Ann Salamida.

She said 100 families are on the Christmas waiting list, but the center can afford just 85 food baskets.

“We had to use leftover funds from the United Way Crises Fund given to us in the summer to supplement the cost of the 15 food baskets,” Salamida added.

“I have never seen a year where so many people need so much food, as opposed to just asking for gifts.”