ARDMORE, Okla. -- Feeding your family may be harder now than ever, but that is just what one state agency says could be happening. If you've been to the grocery store lately you know all too well how much basics like milk and bread cost, and local agencies say that's forcing more and more people to line up for help.

We spent part of the day browsing at grocery stores around town to see how much people are expected to pay just to put breakfast on the table for their kids.

A gallon of milk costs $3.98 at this one grocer. At another, Borden was $4.29, and bread for the morning toast and lunch-time sandwiches was well over $2 a loaf.

What does it all mean?

Figures from the Department Of Human Services indicate more Oklahomans were on food stamps last month than a year ago. Now we need to be fair and mention that is the first increase we have seen in over a year, but local charities say they are concerned with the rising costs at the markets too, and that more middle-class families are coming to them for help making ends meet.

"It’s much greater now. We've noticed an increase in the people coming in needing bags of groceries, an increase in the people that come to our feeding program at lunch time is increasing," Salvation Army Capt. Barbara Wilson says.

Captain Wilson says a lot of people are embarrassed to ask for help for their family and that the Salvation Army is seeing a lot more first-timers walk through their doors. They say it is nothing to be embarrassed about. If you need help, call the Department Of Human Services or go by the Salvation Army.