Giving holiday hope to local families in need

In this "Season of Hope," a local mom will be relying on the Tucson Community Food Bank to give thanks.

Maria Vargas goes to the non-profit grocery store for her family's essentials. She gets fish sticks, sandwich meat and pork. She says, with pork, "you can mix it with basically anything. This will give us at least a couple of days, or lunch for my husband."

Maria lost her job, for health reasons, so putting food on the table is a constant concern. Four mouths to feed, and her 8 year old son Daniel knows what he likes. "The peanut butter, macaroni and cheese and the brownies."

The Vargas family's been going to the food bank the last 2-years, saving at least a hundred dollars, once a month.

For Maria, that means they can have a Thanksgiving. "You know, turkey and all the fixings. Because of all the money we save... And then try to get a few gifts for the kids."

The Vargas' are not alone. Demand has gone up at the food bank's non-profit grocery store, and for the free food box program. Luckily, officials say, donations have gone up too... but when will the generosity level off?

Bill Carnegie, with the Tucson Community Food Bank says, "the unknown for us is when people have really given as much as they can give and we still have people lined up at our door... we're just hoping that people can look into their hearts and wallets and the store shelves, when they go shopping, and just do something a little extra for local families in need."

This is the Food Bank's busiest time of year, with thousands of families showing up in need.

You can help make this a Season of Hope" by taking non-perishable food to any area fire station.