It was a sobering morning for Colleen Mathews when she recently volunteered to make lunches for kids who would otherwise go without. Brown Bagging for Calgary's Kids feeds 2,500 students city-wide, with that number expected to grow as high as 3,000 by Christmas.

"It was a sad statistic to come in and recognize that's how many need this in Calgary, even with the times going on right now with the economy," says Mathews.

Last year at this time, staff and volunteers were preparing about 2,200 lunches for 150 Calgary schools in both the public and separate school boards. Then this past April, that number started to climb.

"We know it's definitely part of the economy, families struggling to make ends meet. You can't change a car payment or your rent or your mortgage or your bills," says Tanya Koshowski, executive director of Brown Bagging for Calgary's Kids. "But your grocery bill is something you can flex and put $200 into, or $20 into."

Kids worry about family's finances

Another charity, the Calgary Boys and Girls Clubs of Calgary, is also seeing more students reach out for help. Spokesperson Karen Love says it has success coaches working in several high schools to help students overcome issues like poverty, mental health and addictions. Love says one of their bigger concerns right now is their family's finances.

"We have kids coming to us on a Friday at the schools to say 'you know what, my dad was laid off,' or 'we don't have food for the weekend,' so we're actually sending kids home with food hampers," says Love.

Some kids are even getting part-time jobs to help support their families, even though it may affect their education, he adds.

"They're telling us 'look I have to work, because we don't have any money at home, and I am trying to help my mom and dad.'"

Love says this has been a problem for a while in some areas of the city, but it appears to be growing.