ELKHART — Local food pantries are seeing more demand these days. That's especially true in Elkhart County. So the United Way is working on a new program to allow pantries to team up.

It's efforts like the one at the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center (OSMC) that help supply local food pantries. The staff there completed a food drive that will send over 100 boxes of food to three food pantries in Elkhart County.

“This year with the economy we really felt strong that the food banks needed some help, so that's what we did,” explained Jaime Wrigley of OSMC. “We took $2,000 of the money that we collected and went out and bought donations of food."

Everyone pitched in.

"We have about 150 employees, 140 some odd boxes," said Don Hammond, CEO of OSMC. "I couldn't be more happy.”

It’s grassroots efforts like this that help replenish food pantries around the county. But with the state of the economy the way it is, there is expected to be a bigger demand on food pantries around the area.

The Elkhart County United Way has come up with an idea to help. It is forming the Elkhart County Food Network. Composed of five food pantries — Elkhart Salvation Army, Goshen Salvation Army, Faith Mission of Elkhart, Church Community Services and Family Christian Development Center of Nappanee — it is being set up to raise awareness about hunger. It will also make efforts to streamline donations and area food drives.

“We want to increase cooperation between area food pantries, to share food, to work together to raise food, to make sure that we can get everybody who is hungry a meal, or a bag of groceries to be able to meet the needs of their families,” said Darren Bickle of the United Way of Elkhart County.

They hope to make it easier to identify and supply families with food, and make it easier for them to obtain it.

"We're trying to spread out all over the county, to make those connections, so there is a site close to everybody,” Bickle said.

The United Way plans to unveil the new Elkhart County Food Network program Monday.