She has helped feed some of Hawai'i's hungry residents for 23 years. As the coordinator for the food bank at First United Methodist Church, she sees the problem every day, serving roughly 650 to 700 people a month.

"I think it's not quite as bad as last year, early on, but it is still pretty bad," she said. "We keep getting new people all the time."

The "onslaught," as she calls it, has risen steadily since 1997. Several thousand people are on a waiting list to get monthly food bags, Chadwick said.

"It is not easy and I feel very sorry for a lot of those folks," she said. "You can tell on their faces that they are really in need. Some of them are skipping meals."

National Hunger Awareness Day was created in early 2002, when a continuing downturn in the economy, subsequent massive layoffs, and the events of Sept. 11, 2001, contributed to a significant increase in the number of Americans unable to feed their families.

Charitable organizations, such as the Hawai'i Foodbank, saw numbers rise and donations decline.

The Hawai'i Foodbank feeds about 118,000 people each week through a network of agencies statewide. Distribution is up about 4 percent this year, said Dick Grimm, the group's president.

Last year, the food bank experienced a 40 percent jump in distribution.

"The vast majority are low-income clients," Grimm said. "They are employed but they have to make a decision about whether they are going to buy food or pay rent or get medications."

The food bank is not doing anything special to mark National Hunger Awareness Day, but they have been busy in recent months, Grimm said.

The organization's annual food drive in April brought in 501,000 pounds of food and the annual drive by letter carriers last month an additional 280,000 pounds, Grimm said.

With an annual fund-raising dinner planned for July, the food bank worried about "overkill" in a community that has been very helpful, he said.

"We think that the people of Hawai'i have been extremely generous in their giving to help the needy," he said.