Area residents and organizations responded when Inter-faith Community Services sent out an appeal for assistance to meet the ever-growing number of requests for food assistance.

So Maria Pearson, Inter-Faith community relations director, lined up volunteers Nov. 15 for a rare Saturday work day receiving and sorting food bank donations.

About 1 p.m., the Miranda family backed their pickup up to the door to unload the food they collected in their neighborhood to help an organization they had just learned existed.

“We wanted to do something to help our community and when we learned about Inter-Faith and their needs for the food bank, we asked our daughter’s soccer team to help us do a neighborhood food drive,” Cloressa Miranda said. “We went door to door for nine square blocks and just about everyone helped us.”

Her husband, Vincent Miranda, agreed.

“We see what the economy is doing and know it’s hard on a lot of people and we felt we needed to step up and do something to help,” he said. “We didn’t want to sit on the sidelines doing nothing while there were people who didn’t have food on their table. We asked Angelina’s teammates to help us and it went great.”

Angelina, still in her Englewood Soccer Association uniform, helped unload the bags of food.

“It was fun because we were doing something to help people,” the 6-year-old said. “It was nice and we collected a lot more food than I thought we would get.”

The Miranda pickup pulled away from the food bank donation door just as the Englewood Lions arrived with the items they collected during the morning’s food drive at a local super market.

“We did pretty well,” Lion’s Club member Mike Flaherty said. “We got quite a bit of food plus we got some cash donations and a food gift card to do what we can so Inter-Faith can provide food for needy families.”

Inter-Faith felt the pinch of the economy with an ever-increasing number of request for assistance, fewer donations and the fact the pressure came just before the organization’s annual effort that provides the makings for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for several hundred families.

“We’ve set a record last month when 120 new families requested assistance, 40 more families than the previous record,” Pearson said. “Most requests were for food assistance. For example, the food bank handed out enough non-perishable items in October to prepare 22,140 meals in October. That is a new one-month food distribution record for us.

“Fortunately, a number of groups have helped with food drives but it seemed the food went out the door as fast as it arrived here. I can’t tell you how much we appreciate help from individuals and organizations like we got today. It’s great and the donations we got will help us with regular food distributions and as we prepare the boxes we’ll give out for Thanksgiving.”

She noted help has come in from a number of sources including from food drives conducted by Sheridan schools, Boy Scout Troop 358 from Littleton and a Boy Scout Troop from Highlands Ranch.

The food bank is only one of many services provided for Inter-Faith. To make donations or to learn more about the organization, call 303-789-0501.