The rising costs of food and fuel are making the typically desperate summer months for Canada's food banks even worse as donations dry up and more people find themselves without enough to eat.

Far away from the spirit of the Christmas season and with the public's attention turned to vacations, food bank donations usually drop off considerably during the summer.

But food banks across the country say 2008 has been especially bad.

"It's a number of different reasons," says Lisa Martella, associate director of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank.

"The high cost of fuel, the higher cost of food could be affecting people's disposable income. People have less money to donate."

The Vancouver food bank has received 19 per cent fewer food donations so far this year compared with last year.

And the non-profit group, which operates without any government funding, has only been able to bring in $149,000 of its summer fundraising goal of $250,000.

The same pressures that are hurting donations also seem to be increasing demand, says Martella.

"A lot of our clientele are single-parent families and seniors with fixed incomes," she says.

"I'd imagine if the cost of food is going up, the cost of transportation is going up, that could definitely propel people into food-bank reliance."

The Vancouver food bank, like others in the country, has stepped up marketing over the summer, including partnering with a junk removal company to pick up donations in a campaign called "Christmas in August."

Katharine Schmidt, executive director of the Canadian Association of Food Banks, says it's a problem everywhere.

"Food banks are struggling," says Schmidt, whose group estimates more than 720,000 Canadians depend on food banks to eat.

"(Fuel) is a piece of food banks' budgets in terms of trying to acquire and share the food, and as transportation costs go up, that is putting an additional squeeze on their resources that we haven't seen in previous years."

Food banks mostly rely on donations from the public, such as food drives, fundraising campaigns and donation boxes at grocery stores.

Some operate without any government money, and even for food banks that do receive public funding, it's just a fraction of their total budgets.

Schmidt says the dire situation for food banks - and, in turn, people who depend on them - should prompt governments to do more.

"Hunger is a significant issue in this country, which is sad given the fact that we live in such a wealthy country," she says.

"It really takes the effort of all of us. The charitable community is there, companies are there helping to support, and we definitely need government support, as well."

In Nova Scotia, a non-profit group that supplies about 150 food banks across the province is precariously close to running out.

Feed Nova Scotia aims to have at least two weeks of food in its warehouse, but that supply is now down to two days - the lowest it's been in years.

The organization sent out an emergency plea for donations in June, a month after receiving 27,000 kilograms of potatoes from farmers in Prince Edward Island.

For the Ottawa Food Bank, the biggest problem appears to be increased demand, says executive director Peter Tilley.

Tilley says the group doesn't have numbers compiled yet, but just this past week he helped two people who had never been to a food bank before - including a former volunteer.

"He's never needed food, but he's been laid off for some time. I said to him, 'You should have come to me sooner,"' says Tilley.

"That was just two this week for me, so if that's happening at our warehouse, I imagine that's happening throughout the city."

In addition, Tilley says his group often buys food in the summer months when donations run out, but he expects those costs to be $50,000 higher than usual by the fall.

James Vercammen, an expert in food economics at the University of British Columbia, says high energy prices are likely the worst problem for food banks, both in terms of donations and demand.

When it comes to prepared or processed foods, cost increases aren't passed onto the consumer as much as they are in products like bulk rice and pasta.

That means the average cost of food - particularly for affluent families that might eat out more - isn't increasing as much as some people might assume.

However, skyrocketing fuel and heating bills mean that people have less disposable income to spend on donations, and people who have been just barely getting by may turn to food banks if they can't make ends meet.

"It's not food prices that are making people fall over the brink," says Vercammen.

"It's gasoline, it's housing, property taxes, everything else: 'Well, I'm not spending that much more on food, but I'm spending a lot more on the gas tank so I better cut back on my food bank donations."'