As the 15th annual Spooky to be Hungry food drive prepares to wrap up this weekend, organizers are hoping donations will pour in to help feed the area's hungry.

Spooky to be Hungry, a community campaign that benefits Golden Harvest Food Bank, comes as the charitable organization has seen a spike in demand, distributing 15 percent more food during its fiscal year that ended in September.

Food drives are vital to help the nonprofit organization fulfill its mission, Carrie Jones, the special events and food drive coordinator for Golden Harvest, said. "It's very important. It's one of our biggest drives, if not our biggest," she said. "The fact that it is a community-based drive is wonderful."

There are about 370 sites collecting food this year, including neighborhoods, businesses, churches and schools, Denise Knight, the community chairwoman for the campaign, said.

That number is down from about 400 locations last year, something Ms. Knight attributes to natural attrition among some neighborhoods and fewer businesses participating this year.

Most of the food collections won't be complete until the weekend, and then Golden Harvest will start picking up the donations and tallying totals.

Last year, 114,973 pounds of food and $57,297 in monetary donations were given.

There are no set targets for donations this year, but Ms. Knight said she has been encouraged by what she has seen.

"We feel like everyone has been very generous," Ms. Knight said. "The neighborhoods that have collected so far have had some good totals."

Spooky to be Hungry has chapters in Columbia, Richmond, McDuffie, Burke, Lincoln, Edgefield and Warren counties. Golden Harvest determines how to distribute the donations.

Golden Harvest handed out 12.4 million pounds of food last fiscal year to the 30 counties in Georgia and South Carolina that it serves.

Other food drives for Golden Harvest will continue throughout the year, including a campaign by Security Federal Bank from Nov. 9 through Dec. 18 and radio station 95 Rock's "Canapalooza 2009" from Nov. 20-23.