Holidays Find Food Center in Need of Help : Charity: The long run of tough economic times has had bad effects on organization that feeds the county’s hungry.

The holidays are here, and the Food Distribution Center is hungry.

Despite an infusion last weekend of donated canned goods, courtesy of a countywide Boy Scout food drive, the center’s appetite for more volunteers, money and food remains high.

“We are still looking at the continuation of tough economic times,” said Fred Pratt, the center’s director. “You just don’t hear about it as much in the media as you used to, I guess, because it’s been going on so long. But our charities are telling us they have as much--if not more--demand this year than last. “

In its 10-year history, the nonprofit food bank has supplied more than 67 million pounds of food to 255 county charities. On a monthly basis, the private organization helps feed more than 180,000 Orange County residents--60% of whom are children.

Most recently, the center funneled donations to 15 Laguna Beach charities, struggling to feed the victims of last month’s fire. Oddly, said Pratt, those in greatest need were not fire victims but scores of day laborers who worked in the community.

“All of a sudden, they didn’t have an income,” Pratt said.

According to the center, nearly 400,000 people in Orange County are at risk every night of going to bed hungry. Most of the people in need are children, the elderly, the handicapped or the homeless.

However, Pratt believes the center could make even more dramatic strides in alleviating hunger if it could successfully tap into the county’s vast resources.

“Orange County is such a rich county,” Pratt said. “There’s plenty of food, plenty of money and plenty of people. I know people would volunteer to help if they knew about us.”

Most donations to the center are damaged items from supermarket chains or items from manufacturers who have overproduced or discontinued a product. The center also receives food from restaurants, government surplus and trade shows.

But food drives like the recent Scouting effort are essential to the center’s ability to keep pace with countywide demands. More than 30,000 Scouts--along with 100 National Guardsmen and 30 trucks--collected about 360,000 pounds of canned goods Saturday. Though the goal was to surpass 500,000 pounds, organizers still viewed the drive as a major success.

“I know the Scouts were disappointed,” Pratt said. “But with all the fires and all the flooding back east, I think people have been in a giving mode for a long time. I thought people might be ‘gived’ out. But to come up with as much as last year was terrific.”

Though it could hand out the fruits of the Scouting drive in about two months, Pratt said the center instead distributes the food over a six- to seven-month period. The quality of the food from the Scouting drive is extremely high, said Pratt, and they want it to last as long as possible.

“It’s 100% usable,” Pratt said. “It’s food we normally just don’t see.”

The center will also benefit from a new holiday partnership with Knott’s Berry Farm. Adults who donate a can of food can enter the Buena Park amusement park for a discounted fee of $15.95.

“We are proud to be able to join forces with the Food Distribution Center during this important time of year,” said Terry Van Gorder, Knott’s president. “More than simply increasing their food bank, however, we hope the alliance raises awareness of Orange County’s growing hunger problem.”