ELKHART — Charlie Baer grabbed a can of kidney beans from the shelf and nestled it next to a jar of peanut butter and a package of white rice in a brown paper bag.

“When I retired, I prayed for a long time to be able to do something to benefit the community and others,” said Baer, who worked in the grocery business for 50 years and now heads the Elkhart Salvation Army’s food pantry.

Baer doesn’t meet a lot of the families who seek the food pantry’s help, but he knows the program has a big impact.

“We are providing for the needs of people that don’t have anything,” said Baer, a volunteer for the past 10 years. “We’re here to service them. I feel as though people have been very appreciative of it.”

Some of the food pantry’s shelves are bare, yet the number of people lining up for help is growing. Close to 1,700 families visited the food pantry last year, a 10 percent increase from 2010.

“It tears your heart up,” said Major Steven Woodard, the Elkhart Salvation Army’s corps commander.

The summer months have been tough, Woodard said. Donations are cyclical, increasing during the winter holidays and dwindling June through September, he said.

“But the need knows no season,” Woodard added.

On Tuesday morning, the Salvation Army served breakfast to nearly 160 people. Seated at the tables was a mix of seniors, single mothers with their children, self-employed Elkhart residents barely scraping by and homeless men and women.

“They tell us, ‘We’re just glad you’re here,’ that we’ve been able to help them out of a tough situation,” Woodard said. “Sometimes it’s a one-time thing, and it would be nice to say that we usually see someone once, but the need sometimes is a continual thing.”

The need to put food on the table doesn’t go away, said Major Allen Hanton, head of the Goshen Salvation Army.

“People have limited resources, so how do they juggle this,” Hanton asked. “With the food pantry, we’re able to give a little relief by giving them a food box that will last them three to five days. Granted, that is not a lot, and we have a 60-day wait period for food orders. But for those three to five days, these families have something to eat, and they can use the money they didn’t have to spend on food and put that toward bills or some other life necessity.”

The Salvation Army in Goshen serves between 125 and 155 families per month at its food pantry.

“It gets to the point where they have this utility bill, they have rent coming up, they have an insurance payment due and they have to feed their family,” Hanton said. “Which one are they going to do first?”

HOW TO HELP

The Elkhart Salvation Army, 300 N. Main St. in Elkhart, accepts donations from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. Their phone number is 970-0088.

Donations can be dropped off at the Goshen Salvation Army, 1013 N. Main St. in Goshen, from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The office closes at noon on Wednesdays. Their phone number is 533-9584.

ANOTHER WAY TO HELP

Twin sisters Lillian Beehler and Lucille Park will celebrate their 85th birthdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at Jamestown United Methodist Church, 59218 C.R. 3 in Elkhart. Instead of gifts, the sisters ask guests to bring non-perishable food donations for Church Community Services’ food pantry.