Second Harvest Food Bank is working to fill its largest increase in demand in two decades.

Spokeswoman Tasha Kennard says requests for emergency food boxes rose 13 percent in September, then another 21 percent in October.

And that’s just in Nashville.

“We’re seeing new faces here at the food bank, our 400 partner agencies across Middle Tennessee in 46 counties are feeling an even greater increase than what we’re feeling right here in Davidson County.”

Kennard says some charities in harder hit counties are reporting a 60 percent increase.

Back in the warehouse, bread and yogurt are being offered for free, medium size canned items cost 12 cents. Gay Eisen checks out the shelves for items Big Brother of Nashville could use. She volunteers for Big Brother full-time.

“The need is increasing constantly and we’re inundated for phone calls asking for help with basic living that a lot of us take for granted. People come in, their lights are cut off, their heat is cut off, their air is cut off, they have no water. In the last month we had two mothers come in, their children were sent home for school because they were dirty and they smelled. They didn’t have water at home to bathe in.”

With more demand comes a need for more donations. Second Harvest is specifically looking for more monetary gifts. Because they can buy in bulk at a discount, the food bank can get more for the dollar than most donors can. They’re also ramping up their traditional canned food drives, with a push to collect 300-thousand pounds of food in 30 days this December.