Wichita ? Holiday charity programs in Wichita are in dire shape. Organizers expected problems because of the economic downturn, but even they are shocked.

“It’s probably the most difficult situation we’ve been in since I’ve worked here,” said Tim Brown, Salvation Army development director, who has been with the organization for nine years.

“We need a miracle over the next couple of days,” said the Rev. Sam Muyskens, executive director of Inter-Faith Ministries, which runs Operation Holiday.

Some of the programs begin distributing items this week, but organizers aren’t sure they can meet record requests.

Operation Holiday is in danger of failing to meet its cash goal for only the second time in its 48-year history, Muyskens said. Operation Holiday needs 135,000 food items but had only 71,000 as of Tuesday. That included 23,000 items it purchased.

Usually, the organization doesn’t have to buy food because of donations. The organization also has received only $168,000 of the $290,000 it needs to buy cash vouchers for families, he said.

It has decided to buy the same number of vouchers as last year, hoping the money to pay for them arrives in the coming months.

Close to 4,800 households have signed up for Operation Holiday this year, up from the previous high, which was 4,500 last year. That includes 14,200 people, of which 6,181 are children.

The number of children is down from last year, but the number of elderly people requesting help has doubled.

Muyskens said he has been involved with Operation Holiday for 30 years and called this year its most difficult. The only other time the organization failed to reach its cash goal was 16 or 17 years ago when it fell about $33,000 short, he said.

“I am a person of faith so I should believe … but this is going to be tough to reach,” Muyskens said.

Donations to the U.S. Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots program, which works with Operation Holiday, also are down, Muyskens said. That may result in rationing toys.

The Salvation Army expects more than 18,000 people to have signed up, including 11,000 children, Brown said. That would be 3,000 more children than last year.

Brown said the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree effort is at risk with so many new children. The trees, which have tags with children’s names, ages, gender and toy requests, are set up at businesses throughout Wichita.

“We’re really concerned about having enough items for those 11,000 kids,” he said. “It’s going to be a challenge.”

On distribution day next week, the Salvation Army needs 750 volunteers. It has about 200 so far, Brown said.