PORTLAND, Ore. -- Requests for emergency boxes of food are higher than ever in Oregon, according to the USDA.

The director of the state's hunger task force said more than 50,000 new people have applied for food stamps this year that didn't last year, pushing the total to nearly half a million.

A truck load of what food bank directors called Most Wanted Food was unloaded from a semitrailer, placed on a conveyor belt and moved into the Oregon Food Bank's warehouse Wednesday afternoon. Inside, volunteers and staff moved the stuff for others to pack later into family-size boxes.

Mayors and volunteers from outside the Portland area pitched in, too. The Oregon Food Bank counts on people like them to help get food on the table for Oregonians who are struggling to afford enough food.

"Our service needs have gone up 14 percent in the last quarter. Many people are out of jobs, manufacturing jobs, hundreds have lost jobs. More people are using the food bank not as an emergency but as a regular stop for their monthly needs," Mayor of Elgin Carmen Gentry said.

While some people and families donate time at the food bank, some companies organize their employees to share time.

Oregon Food Bank directors said they’re joined by a new corporate partner in the effort. Wal-Mart is providing a $275,000 grant focused on reducing waste and getting more food out to hungry families.

"It’s heartbreaking to see what’s happening in our economy today, with people not having enough food to eat and not enough things to sustain them in daily living. Things that a lot of times we take for granted," Wal-Mart truck driver Dan Lohnes said.

No one at the Oregon Food Bank takes the food or the growing number of hungry Oregonians for granted. They expect the need to keep growing.

Food Bank Struggles To Meet Increased Demand