Local organizations seeing more children in need of assistance

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A new year brings new needs for the Fresno County community.

This past year was one of the busiest for local organizations, such as Central California Food Bank and Fresno Mission.

"The lines are long," said CCFB co-CEO Kym Dildine. "We're serving about 310,000 individuals every single month, over a third of which are kids."

"We served over 25,000 just hot meals during the holiday season, which was the most we ever have during the month of December," said Matthew Dildine, CEO of Fresno Mission. "In addition to the other food resources that we had, you're probably talking at least another say 100,000."

The need for food, clothes, shelter and other resources doesn't just disappear after the holidays.

In recent years, more and more families are reaching out for extra assistance from organizations.

It's reflected in the donation items in high demand.

"Dairy and protein are always at the top of that list," said Kym.

"We have increasingly more babies, and so we have a need for things like diapers, formula and things of that nature," said Matthew.

He added that he's seen more children in their warming shelters -- calling it "the new normal."

According to Matthew, it may only get worse.

"We're going to see a lot more elderly in the next five years, and we're going to see a lot more people that are in that 17 to 22 range," he predicted.

Donations are always welcome at CCFB or Fresno Mission. The organizations are also in need of more volunteers.

With the community's support, they can make a greater impact.

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