Summertime means hard times for food banks.

Requests for food are up, but with the annual yuletide giving spirit still months away, food bank inventory is down.

"We're already scraping the bottom of the barrel," said President Dick Grimm of the Hawaii Foodbank, which serves many of O'ahu's charitable pantries and shelters.

Grimm's organization aims to collect about 900,000 pounds of groceries each month for its warehouse shelves. June's collection slipped to about 574,880 pounds — pinching supply to an 18-day inventory. A food stockpile lasting up to 30 days would be ideal, Grimm said.

Despite the lull in donations, the food bank has begun summer feeding programs such as Feed the Future, through which it provides meals for 600 children.

The Maui Community Food Bank started in June its first summer food drive. About 18 participating businesses and churches are manning drop-off bins, with donations earmarked for the 80,000 people the food bank helps annually.

But as these programs aim to ease seasonal difficulties, Grimm and others worry that the state's four food banks are headed for hard times all year round. They point to supermarkets now choosing to set up in-store discount bins rather than donate to food banks, a drop in federal support and increased costs tied to maintaining the nonprofit operations.

Foodland Super Market Ltd. donated about 242,000 pounds of damaged canned goods, mislabeled cereal boxes and other groceries to the Hawaii Foodbank during the 2006 fiscal year. This year, however, the addition of in-store discount bins reduced the food bank donation total by 9,000 pounds.

"The new deal's better for the consumer, better for the store," Foodland Manager Guy Wages said. "But the food bank is definitely losing out on this scenario because we sell it rather than donate it."

In years past, Wages said, Foodland returned damaged goods to manufacturers or donated them to food banks and other charitable efforts.

"We're preparing for this downhill as best we can," Grimm said. The Hawaii Foodbank, which helps about 30,000 people weekly, recently dipped into its emergency fund to purchase food on its own.

"Funding is limited, especially because we're not getting as much money as we used to," Grimm said.

USDA GIVING LESS

U.S. Department of Agriculture money allocated for the food banks in Hawai'i was cut by about $17,000 for this fiscal year — from $379,157 to $362,226.

Leroy Laney, a Hawai'i Pacific University economics professor, said the dip comes as no surprise because federal support is tightly linked to state unemployment and income per household. Hawai'i holds the nation's third-lowest rank for unemployment, with a rate of 3.5 percent.

"Hawai'i's unemployment rate is at its lowest, and then we've got multifamily homes" increasing income per household, said Laney, who has studied the economy's impact on food banks. "So it's like a double whammy for us."

The food bank funding problem is compounded when agencies and other groups accepting deliveries are unable to pay for goods.

Most food banks charge groups 12 cents per pound of donated goods, Grimm said, noting that the fee goes toward processing and maintenance costs. During the last fiscal year, the Hawaii Foodbank lost an estimated $360,000 in such income because groups failed to pay for 3 million of the 8 million pounds distributed.

FEWER VOLUNTEERS

Less money is stepping up ongoing struggles to cover costs tied to food collection, warehouse storage and delivery trucks. Grimm said while food banks have long leaned on volunteers to help with food drives and other programs, their ranks are shrinking — and aging. The average age of a Hawaii Foodbank volunteer is about 60.

"Volunteers not showing up has become a major problem," Grimm said. "Roughly 3,000 will sign up, but only 2,000 show up to volunteer."

The drop in volunteer manpower, combined with other snags, is hampering the Hawaii Foodbank's ability to deliver groceries.

Since last year, there has been a 5 percent drop in the Hawaii Foodbank's distribution of goods to some 250 social service agencies and other nonprofit groups serving the needy.

Overall, the tally for goods donated to the Hawaii Foodbank has decreased by about 6 percent since last fiscal year. The Maui Community Food Bank also saw a decrease — about 12 percent. The Kaua'i Food Bank and the Hawai'i Island Food Bank saw drops of 8 percent and 2 percent, respectively.

One bright spot for the food banks in Hawai'i surfaced last year when the state arranged to have USDA food shipped directly from the Mainland to the Neighbor Islands, rather than through O'ahu ports.

The state saved about $38,000 in interisland shipping and storage on O'ahu last year.

The extra money was tapped to buy about 1,000 cases, or 43,000 pounds, of beef stew to be distributed to the Hawaii Foodbank, Kaua'i Food Bank, Maui Food Bank and Hawai'i Island Food Bank.

Neighbor Island food banks are pleased with the change in direct shipment. Richard Yust, director of the Maui Community Food Bank, said, "I think it's terrific, because food is getting to us quicker."