JANESVILLE, Wis. -- Food pantries in Rock County said unemployment is a big reason they're struggling to meet demand in the community.

Demand has increased drastically in the past year, and one major holiday food drive is gone.

For years, the annual General Motors Food Drive helped families in the community by collecting and delivering groceries. With the plant closed, the food drive is no longer being held.

Now, as families struggle to put food on the table, food pantries are struggling to keep shelves stocked, WISC-TV reported.

"We had a palate over here and all the shelves were full," said Capt. Kirk Schuetz, of the Janesville Salvation Army, while looking over the food pantry basement.

Already, the basement of the pantry is nearly bare.

"We're seeing our needs increase. We saw, in the last year, a 40 percent increase in our food pantry assistance given out, grocery orders. That's huge," Schuetz said.

The Salvation Army, like other food pantries in Janesville, is working hard to keep up with the community's need for assistance.

"We served over 600 families last Christmas, and we're seeing a significant increase this year already," Schuetz said.

One big reason for the increased need might be the loss of another community event.

Last year, the GM Food Drive supplied 350 area families with two weeks worth of groceries. The drive's organizers attempted to continue the event following the plant's closure, but they couldn't raise enough money.

"Losing one resource will increase the need at other agencies," said Jessica Schafer, of Echo Janesville.

Echo has experienced a 19 percent increase in its services across the board. Each week, 200 families come to its food pantry.

"Everybody is seeing an increase in services. We're just all trying to figure out how to get the food and the donations in to help serve everybody who needs it," said Schafer.

Officials said pantry shelves have been emptying as quickly as they're filled. Organizations said they those who can contribute, will -- and quickly.

"It's a difficult situation for a lot of people. They want to help, but they need help," Schuetz said.

On Thursday, WISC-TV spoke with Marv Wopat, who was instrumental in the GM Food Drive for the past 25 years. He said there was no way enough money could be raised and it just couldn't happen this year.

The Salvation Army does Christmas baskets as well but said it will need turkeys and other donations to fill the need.