United Way's new billboard campaign summarizes its own predicament, and that of other Western Pennsylvania charities, as the holiday giving season approaches:

Times like these are why we're here.

The Dow Jones industrial average is sinking, unemployment is up, home foreclosure numbers set new records every month, retail is getting battered, and each day brings bad news for the economy.

That means social service charities are being hit from both sides, facing a discouraging fundraising climate at a time when demand for their services -- food, shelter, clothing and other types of assistance -- is increasing.

"Basic needs are going to be way up, and the resources to meet those needs are not going to be there," said Bob Nelkin, president of the United Way of Allegheny County.

Officials from United Way, an umbrella organization that distributes money to smaller social services groups, have been meeting with heads of those community groups in recent weeks to gauge the increased demand.

Some outfits will have to restructure the way they do business. Others will dip into reserves, or go into deficit spending.

Iris Valanti of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank said her organization is feeding an extra 1,000 to 2,000 people per month, over last year's numbers.

"We haven't turned anybody away," she said. But the food bank's pantry, down by 500,000 pounds as of September, had to tap its savings account to restock, at a cost of $170,000.

"This is across America. The sources of donated food [are] diminishing. Manufacturers don't experience overruns the way they used to," said Ms. Valanti, which is shifting more of the burden to fundraisers and food drives.

"Our demand is up incredibly," said Myrna Zelenitz, executive director of East End Cooperative Ministry, which helps families in the city's eastern neighborhoods.

The food pantry demand is up by 80 families, the family homeless shelter is above its normal capacity and the number of requests for energy assistance "is the highest it's ever been, in all the years we've been doing this," she said.

As is the case with many other charities, giving levels are down, making it difficult to keep up.

Giving usually increases at the end of the year, because of the holiday season and tax-deduction benefits, but "my concern is what happens in January. I will assume we won't get financial donations, and I assume food donations will drop off," Ms. Zelenitz said.

It's part of life for a nonprofit social service group.

"That's what deficits are for," she said, only partly joking.

The Salvation Army, meanwhile, is dispatching its familiar red kettles earlier than usual this year, hoping a few extra weeks of bell-ringing will help recoup what might be lost by a sagging economy and a shortened holiday shopping season -- Thanksgiving is later this year than it was in 2007. Elsewhere in the United States, some kettle stations will even accept debit card contributions.

It will need the extra cash to pay for the crush of service requests -- the Chartiers Valley office alone is assisting 50 more families than usual, many of them "working-class" types who aren't used to asking for financial help.

Regionally, "we are down by $163,000" in terms of unsolicited donations, said Virginia Knor, director of marketing for The Salvation Army's Western Pennsylvania Division, covering the western half of the state.

Solicited direct mail donations are down by $57,000, year-over-year.

"The bigger gifts are impacted by the stock market more directly," Ms. Knor said. Larger gifts often are culled from a donor's investment portfolio. A good year means a bigger donation. A year like this, and people are less inclined to be generous.

The kettle campaign is more unpredictable. Last year, for example, Allegheny County's kettle campaign was $81,000 short of its fundraising goal. But after that figure was reported, an anonymous donor wrote a check for that exact amount.