By Lori EhdeThe local holiday charity program, SHARE, wrapped up its annual gift distribution last week, and organizers say they reached more families than ever this year.Sharing Hearts Are Reaching Everyone matches local donations of gifts and money with families who have applied for help with specific needs.Cheryl Cox, one of the SHARE volunteers, said 35 more families — a total of 73 more individuals — sought help from the program this year."I think that cold weather hit families hard this year," Cox said."It was terribly, terribly cold that week their forms were due back, and part of our budget crunch was all the new coats we bought."Those who fill out forms for SHARE help are able to list specific needs, and coats were popular — even more so than toys and gifts, Cox said."If a coat was listed, we figured there was probably a need," she said. In 2004, SHARE helped 150 families, which included 222 adults and 220 children. This year, 185 families participated, including 262 adults and 253 children.The good news is that increased demand shows that SHARE is reaching people who need it, Cox said. "All recipients seem to have a genuine need for the program," Cox said.The bad news is that funds are now much lower than they should be to adequately fund next year’s SHARE drive.In other words monetary donations are needed now to fund next year’s purchases. SHARE isn’t the only local organization seeing increased demand this year.Family Services Director Randy Ehlers, for example, said there are 41 more individuals using county services now (641) than in January of this year (600).While that isn’t a big enough difference to make sweeping assumptions, Ehlers said local families are seeing more strains on their budgets, particularly with higher fuel prices."Gas prices have an impact on our fixed-income people," Ehlers said.Natural gas prices are expected to hold at 40 to 50 percent higher than last year, taking a markedly bigger chunk out of household budgets.Doug Mead coordinates the energy assistance program for the Southwest Minnesota Opportunity Council. "We’ve noticed that we’ve sent out more applications to people this year," he said, "and I believe that after people get their December heating bills, we’ll get a lot more inquiries."The Rock County Emergency Food Shelf has also reported increased use this fall, heading into winter. "It’s not a great increase yet, but people are saying they can’t afford gasoline," said Food Shelf Volunteer Dorothy Dorn.The bottom line is that bottom lines for some segments of the community are in trouble, and that means more are leaning on SHARE, Food Shelf and other resources."I hope people don’t think that just because we met the need this year, that they don’t need to give to SHARE," Cox said. "We need help now more than ever, and we hate to say that because people have been asked to give and give to so many causes this year with the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina."