BEAUFORT, N.C. – With the economy in a downturn, officials said they’re seeing demand for food stamps skyrocket. September 2008 saw an increase of 27 percent in demand over last September.

In Carteret County, the number of food stamp recipients has almost doubled in the last two years, according to the county’s Social Services Department. In July of this year, they received 190 new cases.

“We’re seeing people we have never seen before walk through our doors,” Kim Riebe, who works at the Carteret County Social Services Department, said.

Rebecca Smith, who also works at the department, said that some people are starting to feel insecure about feeding their families.

Cape Carteret resident Beth, who didn’t want to use her last name, said that she’s pregnant with her first child, and as her husband is leaving the Marine Corps and doesn’t have another job lined up, she’s worried about her family’s finances.

“I just want to make sure everything’s going to be ok,” she said. “I just want to make sure everything’s going to be ok.”

Beth said that she has had to make some changes to make cope.

“I had to move in with my parents, which I really don’t like,” Beth added. “And everything changes. I mean, you go from making so much money to making nothing so fast.

Social workers said they expect numbers to keep rising in Carteret County and across the state.

"It's overwhelming,” Smith said. “And there's no respite in sight."

Carteret County Social Services said food stamp benefits add half a million dollars to the local economy every month.