Local food banks are 'providing more than ever' as pantries see lines up 50 percent ahead of the Christmas holiday and as Americans struggle through the pandemic

Hundreds of cars line up before dawn on weekly distribution days for the Forgotten Harvest's partner food pantries in the metro Detroit area, where visits are up by 50 percent this year.

The need has grown as the coronavirus pandemic has shut down offices and other businesses. So has the response.

Monetary donations to the food bank are on pace to top last year's contributions, helping to fund a larger storage space and new mobile distribution sites required to distribute food safely during the crisis.

'The only good thing about this pandemic is that it's made people care a little bit more about their neighbors,' said Christopher Ivey, director of marketing for Forgotten Harvest, one of the largest food banks in Michigan.

At Forgotten Harvest in the metro Detroit area, visits to the food bank are up by 50 percent this year. Cars line at a mobile pantry ran by Forgotten Harvest food bank in Warren, Michigan

A volunteer from Forgotten Harvest food bank unpackages goods during a mobile food pantry ahead of Christmas

The economic crisis set off by the pandemic has widened the chasm between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' in the United States in new ways. People who can work from home, often in higher-income jobs, are comfortable.

But over 20 million Americans rely on unemployment benefits, and hunger and poverty are rising.

The expanded rift has been accompanied by an outpouring of donations to local food banks, crowdfunding campaigns and other aid to financially devastated Americans. 

'We are providing more food than ever before,' Tyson Nansel, vice president of external affairs for United Food Bank in Mesa, Arizona, said to Fox News.  

Stacks of Christmas food boxes are prepared as cars line up in Warren

Volunteers help with getting food to hungry Americans in Warren

The food bank needs peanut butter, canned meats, canned vegetables and fruit the most. They share that for every $1 donation, the food bank can provide five meals.   

'Pre-pandemic we were delivering 61,000 meals daily and this time it's different, we're delivering 75,000 meals daily. Our distributions on Fridays have grown significantly,' Nansel said.

The United Food Bank has also had to hand out an increased amount of Christmas food boxes to families in need.  

'Around this time of year, we were serving nearly 600 families but this past Friday for our Christmas distribution we reached more than 2,500 families. That equals more than 10,000 individuals just here in Arizona needing help,' Nansel added.   

'Not only just to have a holiday meal, but to get a family of four enough food for more than a week. It was a honey baked ham, it was a bag of produce that had potatoes, apples, oranges, we had dairy products such as milk and cheese, as well as yogurt so a lot of good nutritious items just to help a family out.'

A volunteer wearing a face mask organizes groceries to load into vehicles during a holiday mobile food distribution from the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank supported by the Los Angeles Rams NFL football team and Pechanga Resort Casino outside of SoFi Stadium on December 22, 2020 in Inglewood, California

Amazon shareholder Mackenzie Scott's $4 billion in charitable contributions, announced earlier this month, may be the biggest. But plenty of Americans are also chipping in, donating $10 or $20, some for the first time ever.

Many non-profits have suffered this year as the pandemic shuttered galas and fundraisers. But donations to some small and mid-sized charitable organizations were up 7.6 percent in the first nine months of 2020 over 2019, according to a recent analysis by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, which tracks nearly 2,500 groups. The number of donors is up by 11.7 percent.

The trend seems to have continued in December, typically the most active time for charitable giving in the United States, early data show. Charities received $2.47 billion in donations on Dec. 1, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving known as GivingTuesday, up 25 percent from 2019.

'People are giving like we've never seen before,' said Woodrow Rosenbaum, chief data officer for GivingTuesday.

Much of that is coming in small dollar amounts, suggesting that people across the income spectrum are stepping up their contributions, Rosenbaum said.

About 70 percent of the donations made to campaigns on GoFundMe were under $50 this year, up from 40 percent in 2019, according to a spokesperson for the fundraising website.

'What we have now is much more collective action,' said Rosenbaum.

Volunteers from Forgotten Harvest food bank help sort different goods to distribute ahead of Christmas, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Warren

Volunteers from Forgotten Harvest food bank sort and separate different goods before a mobile pantry distribution

America's Food Fund, started this year, raised over $44 million on GoFundMe, the largest campaign ever on the fundraising website. Long-time programs like the United States Post Office's Operation Santa, which matches donors with needy families who send letters to a special North Pole address, report unprecedented support.

Jonathan Cummings, executive director for Revive South Jersey, a ministry started in 2012 to tutor English, mentor and provide housing help in local communities, says a 'groundswell' of volunteers signed up to deliver food every two weeks after the organization realized that many of the families it supports were struggling to afford groceries.

Giving Tuesday donations results tracked by Share Omaha, a Nebraska organization that supports local nonprofits, nearly doubled this year from 2019, to over $3 million, with a third coming from first-time donors. When the group asked for volunteers earlier in the year for packing meals for the homeless and other tasks, it got 700 applications, up from the 200 monthly average.

'Even if people are out of work or furloughed, they want to give back to the community,' said Marjorie Maas, executive director for the organization.

Janette McCabe was one of the hundreds of people waiting in cars before sunrise on the Monday before Christmas in a parking lot in Warren, Michigan, for a Forgotten Harvest food bank distribution.

McCabe and her husband lost their jobs recently and have been relying on food stamps. She has been coming to the food bank distribution for about a month and a half.

'The volunteers are fantastic,' McCabe said. 'I don't know what we would do if we didn't have them.