ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Many shelves at the Salvation Army's food pantries in Orlando and Osceola County are sitting empty.
The organization has already dipped into its reserve fund.
And WFTV's Bianca Castro learned the people needing help may not be who you think.
The food in a paper sack the Rodgers picked up from the Osceola County Salvation Army food pantry is just enough to feed the family, including their 16-year-old son, through the end of the week.
Even with a full-time job as a food handler at Disney, Leslie relies on the donated food to make ends meet.
"There's a lot of people like me that turn around and earn a normal paycheck, but when we try to go for food stamps, we are denied them," said Leslie Rodgers.
But now the pantry's shelves are drying up, and the demand is too high. They haven't been this empty in more than a year.
In Orange and Osceola counties, there are 230,000 people who deal with hunger problems. That's 1 in 5 central Floridians. Sixteen percent of the people who visit the Salvation Army have college degrees, and 36 percent are like the Rodgers family: at least one adult in the household has a job.
"I'm finding more and more that they are people who are educated who are in dire need of help," said Lt. Herb Frazier, of the Salvation Army Kissimmee. "(People) who have a string of bad luck, if you will, who are needing that help."
Families can only get free food once every three months, unless it's an emergency. But it's the kind of help that has become a lifeline for the Rodgers.
"We've always worked, you know. And just struggling to try to keep ends meet and keep food on the table," said Rodgers.
The Salvation Army in Osceola County and Orlando is asking for donations, either food or monetary.
If you'd like to help, please visit Salvation Army Orlando or Salvation Army Kissimmee for more information.
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