Many people only think to donate non-perishable food items to food banks during the holiday season, but it seems this year in D.C., not enough people have gone even that far -- on Saturday the Post reported that area food banks are critically short of food donations at the very same time that demand for free and discounted food is going up.

The Capital Area Food Bank reported that it only had about 230,000 pounds of food on its shelves this week, down from 570,000 pounds at this time last year.

If you'd personally like to donate non-perishable food items -- or better yet speak to your corporate liason about donating a large gift of food or cash -- you can contact the following people:

The Capital Area Food Bank
Molly McGlinchy
Email: mcglinchym (at) cfoodbank.org
Phone: (202) 526-5344 ext. 311

Bread for the City
Matt Siemer
Email: msiemer (at) breadforthecity.org
Phone: 202.386.7606.

Bread for the City has also teamed with Madame Tussauds to offer a 20 percent discount on admission to the attraction with the donation of a non-perishable food item between now and Dec. 25.