More than 70,000 people a year rely on meals provided by The Foodbank in downtown Dayton, but the charity’s largest fund drive is behind last year’s pace.

The goal of the Dayton Daily News Valley Food Relief campaign is to surpass last year’s donation total of $343,595. As of Wednesday, this year’s financial donations totaled $140,806.17.

“This is 19 percent below where we were last year this time,” said Rosemary Dannin, community relations manager for The Foodbank. “This is the final week of this very important campaign that will allow us to purchase food for next year.”

The money collected by the campaign, which ends Jan. 1, helps The Foodbank purchase food that will be distributed to its 85 partnering nonprofit agencies that have food pantries. These agencies serve food to individuals who live in the counties of Montgomery, Greene and Preble, Dannin said.

These are individuals who sometime during any given month may not know where their next meal is coming from. Dannin estimates that there are approximately 132,000 of these individuals who live in the three counties, including 40,000 children.

“If we don’t meet the goal, that means there will be people who will not be served,” Dannin said.

Some of the people in danger are senior citizens.

“One thing we’re seeing is an upswing in the amount of seniors coming to the food pantry,” Dannin said. “I think this is because our population is aging. They are on fixed incomes and the money isn’t going very far.”

Some of the elderly residents of the Lakewood Apartments, 980 Wilmington Avenue, can relate, according to Tammy Price, who several months ago started a food pantry for seniors living at the complex. This week the pantry, which is housed inside the Choice Wellness Clinic located inside the complex, received fresh produce from The Foodbank. Up to 5,000 pounds of produce was handed out to approximately 100 seniors, according to Price, a sales and marketing representative for Choice Healthcare in Beavercreek.

“It started with one resident coming to my door (at the clinic) and saying that (she) was hungry and had no food,” Price said.

The hungry woman’s plight was revealed after clinic officials questioned her about her low blood sugar. She told them she was eating much because so much of her money went to pay for medication.

Now the apartment’s pantry serves up to 40 of the clinic’s patients every month.

“We are all very blessed in that we can get into our cabinets and have canned goods that sit in there for months,” Price said. “We’re not in the mood for canned chicken noodle soup, but that can of food can be a meal for a senior that has gone days without food.”