ROCK HILL, S.C. -- A pickup truck rolls into the parking lot of a Rock Hill soup kitchen and a crowd quickly gathers. Most people there know the Reverend Ronal King and his ministry, Feed The Hungry.

On Tuesday, he tore open bags full of donated coats and starts passing them out to the crowd.

"This is wool," he said to one woman, and then helped her try the coat on.

Others reach into the bags looking for something their size.

"Just take one only, and try to share," King said. "God is watching you."

Just more than a week before Thanksgiving, King is usually up to his ears in turkeys. In a normal year, he gets donations to buy about 1,200 of them to feed needy families across nearly a dozen North and South Carolina counties.

But this year is different.

"Donations are slim to none," he said.

In fact, several of his usual donors have called him, saddened to say they can't afford to help him this holiday. Some have even asked for turkeys themselves.

Prices for whole turkeys are also higher than last year, with some more than $1 a pound. That's one reason Foundation Ame Zion Church in Rock Hill received grants from three grocery stores for more than 150 of them.

Erica Roseborough showed Eyewitness News two freezers there packed with turkeys.The church and daycare center held a community luncheon Tuesday, inviting anyone to come and eat.

"We wanted to open up the doors to anyone in need, and we put it in the papers to say, 'Come out and get a turkey,’” Roseborough said.

Everyone who stopped in for a meal went home with a whole Thanksgiving turkey.

"That's like winning the lottery for some people, just having a turkey to feed your family," Roseborough said.

New numbers from a nationwide report show hunger is growing worse. The U.S. Department of Agriculture found that 17 million families, or almost 15 percent of Americans, struggle to put enough food on the table. That's up from 13 million families in 2007. It's also the largest number of hungry families since the survey started in 1995.

Those stats are not surprising to Roseborough.

"One day you think everything's fine, and the next day everything changes. You're upside down, your savings is gone, everything's gone," she said.

This time of year, churches and charities want to help as many families as they can, but they rely on your help to do that. King said he often finds homeless families living in their cars. He tries to make sure they get a meal too, and last week he fed 54 families he'd found in parking lots.

"Go up to their door, roll down the windows, and here's something to eat and here's something to drink," he said.

If you want to help Feed The Hungry buy turkeys this Thanksgiving, there's still time to donate. Call reverend Ronal King at 803-417-3881.