Every day a truck from the Douglas Area Food Bank makes it rounds to the local supermarkets. The driver takes whatever donations these stores have to offer.

“But this year, donations are down, way down,” said Danny Martinez, the president of the Douglas Area Food Bank.

With their donations going down, the food bank receives less, and thus has less to give to the needy.

It seems it’s only going to get worse for the food bank as the economy continues its downward spiral.

Martinez said that the food bank would hand out anywhere from 12 to 15 items such as rice, beans, bread, soup and vegetables to name a few.

Today, they can only give four or five items.

“People are going away with less,” he said. “Some people don’t come at all now because it costs to much to drive here.”

Every day the food bank offers what it has to people from around the area. And each day he sees about 150 people with only small bags of food to feed their families, he said.

On the weekends, when USDA commodities are handed out, he has also seen the quantity of commodities dwindle.

Martinez said the DAFB gets it’s donation from the Tucson Community Food Bank once a month; otherwise, it relies on the supermarkets.

Recently, though, outside help has come to the rescue. The Douglas Public Library is sponsoring a food drive. For every food item brought in to the library, 50 cents will be deducted from a patron’s overdue fines.

“But that’s only for overdue fees, not replacement fines,” said Victoria Yarbrough, librarian at the Douglas Public Library.

Replacement fines are used to cover the cost of a lost book or other library item.

The library food drive will be held until Christmas Eve, she said.

For Martinez, these donations are like Christmas gifts. “Every little bit counts, and it will surely make someone’s holiday’s a little brighter,” he said.