Every year, the need for charity is greatest in the winter months. When heating bills start to kick in, electric bills spike and it gets too cold for the homeless to stay outdoors, more and more people turn to groups like the United Way and the Food Bank of Delaware, not to mention the state’s hundreds of local and regional charities and churches.

But this winter is shaping up to be the most difficult in a long time, and all of those groups are looking for the extra help they’ll need to provide food, shelter and services to the families who will be hit hardest.

“This is our moral responsibility,” Delaware United Way Director Michelle Taylor said on Nov. 13, at the downstate kick-off of “Delaware Does More,” “We realize that the economy is tight, and that makes it even more important.”

“Delaware Does More” is a season-long partnership between the United Way, the Food Bank of Delaware and churches, businesses and charities from across the state. The goal is to raise 300,000 pounds of food, and another $250,000 in cash donations, by next March.

“It’s going to take all of us to stop and help,” Tyrone Jones, of AstraZeneca, said. “And we all have to continue the effort after Feb. 28.”

Cash donations will go to fund emergency shelters and to provide assistance to people who need help to pay their utility bills.

“It’s not just Christmas and Thanksgiving. People need these things weekly,” said Ira Roach Jr., of the Fresh Pride grocery store, in Georgetown.

Delaware Does More kicked off last week at the Milford branch of the Food Bank of Delaware with an event including presentations from local churches, Sen. Tom Carper, and the donation of $10,000 from Delmarva Power & Light. AstraZenca gave $15,000 to the effort the previous week.

“More people than ever have a need for the basic necessities,” Taylor said. “This is a community challenge – we want every church, every civic association, to think about what they can do…this isn’t about a long-term plan. It’s about what we can do right now to fill this gap, today.”

Last fall, Taylor said, food cupboards across the state saw donations fall, and there was no reason to think they would increase on their own this year.

“We heard from multiple food banks and closets that they had no food, because there were no donations…they sent volunteers away, because there was nothing for them to do,” she said.

To make matters worse, hard economic times guaranteed that there would be more people needing assistance to pay for food and utilities.

“Every day, I pray that our programs and others will be able to weather the current economy,” said Carol Hoffecker, of Dover Seventh Day Adventist Church, one of the guest speakers at the kick-off. “We’re seeing many new faces, and many of them are people who never thought they would need this assistance.

She described a 62-year-old man with a wife and mother-in-law who depend on him for support, and who has only a social security check every month to buy food and pay rent.

He has been forced to salvage scrap metal to make up the difference. Delaware Does More hopes to provide enough food and money to allow people like him to feed their families and keep the lights on all winter, she said.

“In order to do that, we need to have everybody engaged,” Taylor said.

“We have an opportunity now to show our faith by our deeds,” said Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), who attended the kick-off.

Another story came from said Steve Smith, who helps run Christian Store House, in Millsboro.

“Until this year, we were helping folks in a large area of Sussex County; this year, two months ago, our board voted that we could only help people in the 19967 ZIP code,” he said. “The pantry was overwhelmed.”

Even with that cutback, Christian Store House has had 63 percent more families to help this year than in 2007 – 1,636 since this June, compared to 1,005 between June and October of last year.

“This is not an issue that one individual, one group or one agency can handle alone. It’s too big,” Taylor said.

Food donation bins are already going out for the program, including one that was recently installed at the Harrington Public Library.

“We’re getting a pretty good response; it took a while for people to figure out what the barrel was for, but now we’re getting a good response,” Library Director Christine Hayward said. “I think it’s going to go on indefinitely – as long as people are donating, it’s not a problem.”

For more information on Delaware Does More, visit www.uwde.com.