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COLUMBIA (WACH) -- Thanks to citizens from across the Midlands plenty of families will receive the gift of hope this holiday season.

WACH Fox teamed up with the Harvest Hope Food Bank for the Share Your Holiday Food Drive.  Thousands of pounds of non-perishable food items were donated and will go to South Carolina families in need.

We'd like to extend a big thanks to all those who participated to make the 12th annual event a huge success.  And it couldn't have come at a better time.

So far this year, the Harvest Hope says they've seen a roughly 45 percent increase in the need for help over last year.

"The demand is just tremendous right now," says Elizabeth Quackenbush of the Harvest Hope Food Bank.  "We actually see a lot of people who have been volunteers here who are now in line waiting for food because this economy has been so difficult for people."

Last year, the event collected 1 million pounds of canned goods and food for the food drive.  We're still tallying this year's totals so stay tuned for the final count.

Just $1 buys 7 pounds of food to go to those who need it.

One boy's birthday wish was to help Harvest Hope.  Instead of getting gifts, he had his friends bring canned goods to donate.  Watch the full interview. 

Check out more pictures from the event on Facebook.  And if you haven't already, become a fan of our WACH Fox Facebook page.

And again, thank you for all of your generosity.