The Commercial Appeal reports on the growing need for the services of food pantries in the Mid-South.

A recent study by the Mid-South Food Bank and hunger-relief charity Feeding America found there has been a 26 percent increase in clients served by food bank agencies, such as St. Patrick, since a similar study was done in 2006.

“Hunger in the Mid-South 2010″ found that more than 186,500 people received assistance from the food bank in 2009, compared with 148,000 in the 2006 report.

“We did 400 personal interviews at our agencies and literally talked to the clients about what was going on,” said Susan Sanford, food bank president and CEO. “They just said, ‘It’s so hard.’ And the middle-class people were embarrassed and often cried. They never expected to be in this position.”