Ask Jan Coen what the arrival of the holiday season means, and she’ll tell you: “A lot of work.”

Coen is the president of Gig Harbor/Peninsula FISH Food Bank, a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization. As the weather gets colder and the holidays approach, FISH ratchets up its charitable work, spurring one of the busiest donation periods of the year. People are more inclined to donate to FISH during the holidays than at other times of the year, Coen said, both as a result of specific holiday programs and due to the spirit of the season.

“People are very generous this time of year,” she said. “And that carries us through the lean months. In October, our shelves were almost bare.”

FISH can use funds from donors to make Costco runs and purchase their own goods to make up for a lack of donations during slow months. But around Thanksgiving and Christmas, FISH receives a many more donations for a variety of different drives.

The bank collects foodstuffs, and while it doesn’t offer a specific Thanksgiving basket program, it does receive more donations of turkeys, stuffing and other holiday food items this time of year. Gig Harbor United Methodist Church donated $700 worth of turkeys this year, and FISH frequently receives turkeys from customers who take advantage of discount offers at local grocery stores.

But Coen said the food FISH asks for during the holidays is, for the most part, the same as the food it asks for the rest of the year: simple, healthy, well-rounded meals.

“Just like you’d buy at the grocery store,” Coen said. She added that some people have the tendency to use food banks as a way to purge their postdated or unwanted canned food, so collecting fresh, healthy food can be a struggle.

“When you’re really hungry, a can of pickles isn’t going to do it,” Coen said.

FISH also runs a toy program during the holiday season to facilitate the experience of shopping in a toy store for families that struggle to put presents under the tree. Coen said new families come to FISH for toys and are moved by the experience each year.

“It’s absolutely tremendous,” she said. “The parents come in just in tears.”

Moments like that bring volunteers like 91-year-old Carl Ritting to FISH. Ritting is in his 12th year as a FISH volunteer, and he said it’s the gratitude he sees that makes the biggest impression.

“People are hungry and have problems,” he said. “And I volunteer other places, but this is my favorite.”

Part of Ritting’s service, no matter the time of year, is to make a weekly stop at Dairy Queen to pick up their mistake ice creams and other desserts that otherwise would be thrown away. He then takes the food to FISH for distribution.

“The kids just love it,” Ritting said.

Coen said, in an affluent community like Gig Harbor, the level of need for basic food donations – not to mention the other services FISH provides, including the toy drive, financial aid for people who need help with bills and scholarships for local students – can surprise people.

But in the first nine months of this year, FISH served 6,639 people, including 2,603 children, and provided almost 80,000 meals and $100,000 in financial aid. Those numbers likely will rise dramatically during the holiday season, Coen said.

“The people working in the gas stations, the people working as cashiers – they don’t make a lot of money,” she said. “They’re trying to make ends meet. And, if you’re on a limited income, it’s very difficult to stretch.”

Betty Ann Tallman of Gig Harbor is one of the people FISH has served this past year, and she stopped into the food bank’s location in the Eagles building off Burnham Drive a week before Thanksgiving. While the holidays might see FISH’s activity increase, Tallman said the season was hard on her husband’s hardwood flooring business.

“Work is slow,” Tallman said. “Usually around this time of year, it’s really slow.” She added that she’s seen an uptick in people who rely on FISH and other charities during the holidays. “It’s a lifesaver,” Tallman said.

Coen stressed that community connection is the most important aspect of donating and volunteering. All of the food and toy donations will help people in Gig Harbor and on the Key Peninsula, she said.

“We welcome people to come volunteer with us and have some interface with the people they’re helping,” Coen said. “The programs help people here. They help our neighbors.”