Wichita ? Mayor Bob Knight is pledging $1 million from the city’s reserve fund to help four charities that are hard hit by recent layoffs.

The city’s $1 million includes $500,000 for United Way of the Plains, $350,000 for the Kansas Foodbank Warehouse, $100,000 for the Lord’s Diner and $50,000 for overflow homeless shelters.

Knight is urging elected officials, businesses and working citizens to redouble their efforts to help more than 10,000 aviation workers laid off in the past 18 months.

“It’s absolutely the best Christmas present I have ever had,” said Virginia White, executive director of the Kansas Foodbank Warehouse.

The City Council is expected to approve spending $1 million from the city’s $23.4 million reserve fund on Tuesday.

United Way president Pat Hanrahan said the $500,000 from the city could keep the Help Center for Laid-Off Workers open longer, perhaps long enough for the economy to turn around. He estimates that $750,000 will be needed to fund the center for two more years.

The center opens once a month for several days, based on needs and funds, helping laid-off workers pay bills, manage money, reduce debt and apply for food stamps, among other services.

“One hundred percent will go to laid-off workers,” Hanrahan said. “We are not taking out any fees for overhead. All will go to individuals.”

White said she hopes to increase the value of groceries handed out to the needy at the Help Center for Laid-Off Workers from $70 to $140.

“We will try our best to make it stretch as far as we can,” said White, whose organization supports 250 agencies throughout the city.

Larry Hare, kitchen manager at the Lord’s Diner, said the $100,000 pledged might cover six months of operating expenses at the soup kitchen, which serves about 400 dinners each evening to the homeless and working poor.

“We were surprised and excited about it,” Hare said of the pledged $100,000.