TASMANIAN welfare agencies are having to turn people away as the demand for emergency assistance far outstrips supply.
The Salvation Army yesterday said it feared it would run out of food to distribute to those in need this festive season.
The Salvos said the amount of food donated for its Christmas welfare programs was way down on last year but the number of people asking for a hamper had increased by 20 per cent.
A Hobart woman, who did not want to be named, said she and her adult daughter had sought help from one welfare agency but were told the agency was not taking on any new clients.
Another charity could only give her $20.
"I was gobsmacked. How many people out there are doing it tough if this is the situation?" the woman said.
"Of course I did not want to have to ask for help, but sometimes there is no alternative. $20 does not help much at all."
Salvation Army Captain Craig Wood said the charity was only one third of the way through its hamper listings but had almost run out of food.
"Non-perishable food and groceries are desperately needed to assist over 200 families in southern Tasmania alone. On the North-West Coast, it is a similar story in Burnie," Captain Wood said.
The Salvos have now put out an urgent plea for non-perishable food to make up hampers.
The hampers traditionally contain small boxes of cereal, tinned fruit and vegetables, tea, coffee and sugar, tinned spaghetti, baked beans and soup, biscuits, cordial and long-life juice, pasta and rice and a few Christmas treats like tinned pudding, long-life custards and bon-bons.
Tasmanian Council of Social Service chief executive Tony Reidy said all member organisations were reporting a significant increase in demand.
Mr Reidy said a spike in the number of people who were underemployed was driving the bigger need for charity.
"People who are underemployed can't pay their bills, let along come up with disposable income for treats at this time of the year."
Mr Reidy said a lot of the people asking for help were doing so for the first time.
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