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ATTLEBORO - Local food and fuel programs are getting more requests from people in need, and have increasing needs of their own because of the demand.

"More and more people are looking for help," said Norma Ferns, who helps run the food cellar at St. Joseph's Church in Attleboro. The program, she said, is now handing out 125 bags of groceries a week compared to 100 a year ago.

The same is occurring at the six area Food 'n' Friends kitchens sponsored by the Attleboro Area Council of Churches. The soup kitchens served 2,860 people in September, about 300 more than a year ago. Overall, the kitchens served more than 32,000 meals last year and expect to serve 40,000 this year.

Not only the numbers are changing but also the makeup of people seeking help. Patti Sparrow, who coordinates the Wednesday Food 'n' Friends kitchen held at Grace Episcopal Church in North Attleboro, said 50-55 people are now being served each week compared to 30-35 at the beginning of the year.

The majority used to be from the homeless community, she said, but now the population is equally divided between the homeless, the working poor, and seniors. At the Working Persons Food Pantry and the Senior Food Pantry held at Hebron Village Outreach Center, director Michelle Burch said more people are being fed than in the past, and the numbers are expected to rise even more when the pantries relocate to the Centenary United Methodist Church in downtown Attleboro because the church is more centrally located.

The senior pantry has gone from 30 to about 50 people in the last few months, and the working persons pantry has steadily increased and is now at about 100 families, Burch said.

The reasons for the rising needs are varied, but food program coordinators say people run into problems because of low-paying jobs, high rents and escalating mortgage payments, and rising costs for fuel, food and other necessities. Sometimes, a major medical expense or car repair can send them into debt.

The price of heating oil, for instance, is now averaging $2.83 a gallon in Massachusetts, a hike of eight cents in just a week, according to the state Division of Energy Resources.

Jonathan Carlson, executive director of Self Help Inc., the Brockton-based agency with an office in Attleboro that provides fuel assistance in 30 communities including most of the Attleboro area, said the benefit levels are not keeping pace with the rising costs.

"The people coming in are more desperate than in years past," he said.

The maximum heating benefit per household this winter will be $715, he said, but his agency and others are lobbying for $25 million more in state money to supplement federal funds, which could increase the maximum benefit by $200 per household.

Irene Frechette, a volunteer with the local St. Vincent de Paul Society who works out of the council of churches office, said more calls are coming in from people who have had their gas or electric shut off, or who are running out of oil, and more are asking for help with rent and mortgage payments.

That makes pantries and kitchens even more critical. Sue Smith, who coordinates two of the council of churches soup kitchens, said people are being encouraged to take advantage of free food programs so they can use their money for other needs, like heat and rent.

The kitchens and pantries get as much food as they can from the Greater Boston Food Bank, and buy the rest with money from other sources, including grants, donations and fund-raisers. But they now have to spend more to buy the same amount because food costs are up by 4.5 percent from a year ago. The Greater Boston Food Bank, which serves this part of the state, has seen a drop in both federal and state support, according to Stephanie Nichols, public relations manager. Food products provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture are down by seven percent, she said, but funding may be increased through a five-year federal farm bill already passed by the House and now being reviewed by the Senate.

Nichols said food banks in Massachusetts have a buffer from federal cuts because they are also funded by the Mass. Emergency Assistance Food Program. That funding was cut by $1 million this year, she said, but efforts are under way to restore the amount to last year's allocation of $12 million.

The food bank, she said, is currently helping to feed about 320,000 people, but believes many more are out there whose income levels put them at risk for hunger at any time.

"The need always exceeds the supply," Nichols said.