LOCAL CHARITIES ARE FINDING IT TOUGHER TO FEED THE NEEDY.

Byline: EUGENE TONG  Staff Writer

BURBANK -- When the calendar pages flip to fall, local Salvation Army Capt. Moy Hernandez knows his pantries will become less full, and the public will be less likely to help fill them.

This year is no different. In fact, it's worse.

``We're running out of food,'' he said Wednesday after calling on area residents for food donations. ``But it's kind of normal toward the end of our fiscal year. The crunch time is for the rest of this month.''

The fall months before Thanksgiving are among the most difficult for charities striving to feed the needy. The bounty collected from the past winter begins to run low, and the myriad holiday food drives usually don't begin until mid-November.

Still, officials believe the shortfall is worse this year, in part due to donor fatigue from a public that already opened hearts and wallets to help victims from Hurricane Katrina and the South Asia tsunami the year before.

``I think we're still dealing with the backlash from Katrina,'' said Russell Peppers, warehouse manager for the Valley Food Bank in North Hollywood. ``We lost a lot of our donations due to people sending everything to the survivors of Katrina, and it just hasn't kicked back up yet.''

``Some folks have been tapped out,'' Hernandez said. ``And when it comes to the normal everyday situation, normal everyday folks have already given what they can. Even though they like to help, it's just not there.''

To fill a gap for the 300 families the Salvation Army of Burbank furnishes with groceries, and the 15 to 30 homeless people who show up for hot meals four days a week, Hernandez has to rely on the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank and other larger groups.

``Instead of a complete box, it's more halfway or three-quarters of a box,'' he said. ``We try to include some kind of meat in each of our boxes -- a can of tuna, something. That's where we're coming short.''

But the charity also is bracing for a 25 percent cut to their share of the Community Development Block Grant, money from the federal government and allocated by the city of Burbank that funds the food programs.

The group will only receive $13,500 for 2006-07, down from $18,000 the year before and $27,000 from 2002-03.

``We're going to have to make the difference as far as having to get the food (from the regional food bank),'' he said. ``There's not much we can do.''

The Valley Food Bank, which provides for some 15 food pantries in the San Fernando Valley and beyond, also is feeling the pinch. While donations from local grocery stores help keep dairy, vegetables and other perishables in stock, canned and dry goods are in short supply, Peppers said.

``As far as anything else is concerned, it's been really dismal for us,'' he said. ``What we don't have are nonperishables -- pastas, dry rice, dry beans, canned goods.''

Peppers hoped pooling their resources with other charity groups can help them hold out until the holidays.

``People are in a more festive, giving spirit,'' he said, ``and therefore they're more apt to donate.''

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