KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- People in the metro area answered a call for help, Harvesters officials said.

Officials with the Harvesters food warehouse sent out a plea Friday, saying the financial crisis was taking a toll on food pantries.

Just one day after the message went out, more than $16,000 in online cash donations poured in, workers said.

Grocery store managers called to say their Harvesters donation barrels were overflowing and needed to be picked up.

Karen Siebert with Harvesters said, "It just feels really great. We had a gentleman call from a grocery store yesterday, just to find out what we needed. He and his family were there, and they were buying cases of canned food and wanted to know what we needed the most of."

Harvesters feeds 60,000 people each week, and organizers said that need is growing higher as the economy falters.