South coast food hubs are bracing for the worst as they experience huge surges in demand

SouthernCare Food Pantry (SCF) in Moruya offers low cost groceries, bread and produce, and had almost 30 new members sign up during June - doubling the people using the service every week.

"People are finding it tough to make ends meet," SCF team leader Pamela Reseigh said.

While demand has increased, it is now harder than ever to source the groceries people need. SCF has imposed limits on some items, and Ms Reseigh said more limits were likely if demand kept increasing.

"I am concerned we won't have enough produce to be able to supply the people," she said.

"It is heartbreaking to have to tell someone we don't have the things they want."

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SCF is closed during school holidays, and while Ms Reseigh normally uses this time to take a break from ordering deliveries from Foodbank, she said these holidays she would keep ordering to ensure the shelves were stocked when doors reopened.

Frozen groceries will be more expensive at the pantry after the company SCF used to deliver frozen goods closed down, with the new company charging double the old price.

Ms Reseigh said sourcing fresh produce was especially difficult. SCF is developing a community vegetable garden on their property to provide fresh vegetables for their members.

Further north, Ulladulla and Districts Community Resource Centre has seen an 82 per cent increase in the amount of free food parcels they give out to people in crisis during the past 12 months.

Centre manager Maria Mitchell said it was not unusual to be giving out two of these emergency parcels every single day.

She also relies on Foodbank to source groceries and said getting vegetables was haphazard with some completely unavailable.

The last two orders from Foodbank have not had potatoes - a staple vegetable many people rely upon to stretch each meal a little further.

The centre has been using cash donations to supplement fruit and vegetables unavailable through Foodbank, but Ms Mitchell said this was unsustainable.

"The whole situation is only going to get worse," she said.

She predicts the demand for crisis support will double in the next six months, as the cost of living continues to skyrocket.

She doesn't think there are enough services available to meet the demand.

"People in crisis feel hopeless, so we feel hopeless too," she said.

South Coast Community Kitchen delivers food to those unable to access it themselves in the community. The cost to deliver groceries has risen dramatically with increasing petrol prices.

The group has seen a spike in people needing help: from 30 to 40 families, and founder Sarah O'Riley said she didn't know if they would be able to support many more people if the demand for their services increased.

Already she has had to reduce the amount of food included in each delivery package, and is increasingly relying on a community support system and locals who grow food to make up the difference. She has been forced to unwillingly supplement the hampers with processed food - going against her vision for the organisation.

"We can only do what we can do," she said.

She said it was devastating to hear people disappointed with the size of the food hamper they were receiving.

Here's a list of services available on the South Coast.

Lifeline 13 11 14

Kids Helpline 1800 551 800

MensLine Australia 1300 789 978

Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467

Beyond Blue 1300 22 46 36

Headspace 1800 650 890