RALEIGH — The food bank that serves one third of the state received enough food and money during its first-ever 24-hour Telethon this weekend to provide 102,000 meals, according to spokeswoman Christy Simmons.

The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina collected more than $20,000 and 3,300 pounds of food to distribute to local food banks, soup kitchens and church pantries in 34 counties. Simmons said the food bank plans to hold the same fundraiser next year

“I try to connect it to just how quickly someone’s life can change to needing our services, like through notification that they’ve been laid off or a change in martial status,” Simmons said. “Within 24 hours your life can change in a negative way, but in 24 hours we were very pleased with the response of the community.”

There are 560,000 people at risk of hunger in the food bank’s service area, up about 15,000 the same time last year, Simmons said.

Gregory Ng of the online frozen food review show FreezerBurns hosted the online telethon, which began Friday evening. The telethon featured a “social media mixer,” a midnight madness volunteer event and a 4 a.m. food drive.

The group also hosted a food truck lunch Saturday, from which the trucks donated a portion of their profits.