Good samaritans in Spain's Catalonia region have donated a record amount of non-perishable items to food banks this holiday season.
Volunteers at Bancs dels Aliments collected more than two million kilos of food.
One volunteer said the crisis hits close to home as most people know at least one person who is unemployed.
(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) JOSE GUTIERREZ, VOLUNTEER, SAYING:
"I think what motivates people is that there are many people that are close to poverty because of our high unemployment rate, and I think that is what has increased awareness amongst people."
Still deep in recession, Spain's unemployment was at 25 percent in the third quarter with one in five people living below the poverty line.
These recipients are just some of the more than 200,000 people who will receive handouts in the region.
This man says he gets olive oil, pasta, rice and other supplies every two weeks.
Spain's economy has been in recession for a year, the second since 2009, and is not expected to return to growth until late 2013 at the earliest.
