With more families struggling to make ends meet, a new chapter of Kentucky Harvest is helping feed thousands in Knox County.

The help comes as a Barbourville food pantry runs low.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are busy at Christian Life Fellowship Food Pantry.

"Just by the grace of God we haven't ever run out of food," said volunteer Mickey Warren.

Warren says she worried about Thanksgiving.

"Even that one can makes a difference, but without Kentucky Harvest bringing us food in here, we could not have given nothing out that day because we don't have enough food in the pantries right now to make a meal," added Warren.

Southeast Kentucky Harvest is only about six months old and already it's helped provide 40,000 pounds of food to people in this area.

"We're not really fund raisers, we're food raisers. We actually go around and ask for donations," said Southeast Kentucky Harvest Chairman, Darren West.

About 20 businesses, churches, schools and other groups already collected 10,000 pounds of food for the harvest chapter's food drive contest. West says that helps about 5,000 families get more food than what they qualify to get from the pantry.

"So if USDA says this family of five can only have two cans of green beans, well they can reach over the Kentucky Harvest section and get two more cans or three more cans of green beans," said West.

Southeast Kentucky Harvest wants to branch out into Clay, Bell and Harlan counties soon.

"It wasn't founded here in Barbourville to be Barbourville harvest, it's Southeast Kentucky Harvest," added West.

On Saturday, Kentucky Harvest will pick up 27 truck loads of food from Sysco Foods in Louisville to distribute throughout the commonwealth, including Barbourville.