Utahns are looking out for their neighbors. At the Utah Food Bank, the main supplier for many food pantries across the state, donations are up about 5 percent to 10 percent compared with the same time last year.

But need is so much greater. The bank collected 4.5 million pounds of food during July, August and September, but distributed 5.6 million pounds during the same period.

"It's been alarming at how quickly the demand has risen," said Jim Pugh, the food bank's executive director. "I'm confident the community will support us as they have in the past, but we're going to need even greater support."

For now, the pre-assembled food boxes given to customers are smaller - with food for three to five days, instead of five to seven days.

Hildegarde's Pantry in Salt Lake City used to receive about eight or nine weekly pallets of food from the food bank, but these days, about four or five arrive each week.

"By Friday there's almost nothing left to give away," said Lydia Herrera, the pantry supervisor, who noted first-time pantry users are showing up every day.

Every age and ethnicity was represented in the line of people waiting for food Tuesday at the West Valley City emergency pantry, run by the Salt Lake Community Action Program. They had lost jobs, seen their hours cut and moved in with parents.

For Guy Galloway, 72, Social Security benefits are far from enough. He and his wife count on food pantries to keep their cupboards full.

"We pretty much rely on the food pantry for everything we get," the retired truck driver said. "As soon as we get George W. out, things will pick up."

The number of households served by the six Salt Lake Community Action Program food pantries jumped from 1,642 in September 2007 to just over 3,000 the same time this year.

Five of the pantries are in Salt Lake County; one is in Tooele, which saw a smaller increase.

People are noticing that they're going home with less.

"A lot of them are quite angry, wanting to know why they're getting so little," said Lori Sandoval, the food pantry coordinator. "We have to explain that supply is low but demand is high, so we have to be very conservative."

Julia Royal, 28, who was waiting Tuesday in West Valley City, recently lost her job when sales slowed. Her last paycheck will go toward a car payment, electricity and medical bills.

If she hadn't come in for help, "There's no way we'd make it through the week," Royal said.

The Christian Center of Park City has begun putting lower per-person limits on certain products, such as fruits and vegetables. Some donations from stores have declined, and the pantry doesn't want to run out.

Their numbers have gone from about 1,300 people helped in August to about 2,100 last month. At least 30 percent of the people seeking help are not minorities, which is a significant change.

"We've had an increase of just poor working folks," said Tim Dahlin, the center's director.

jlyon@sltrib.com