Pastor Erika Lopez and Pastor Rafael Lopez as the Grinch hand out Christmas presents during a toy drive.

The Outpour Project once again gave away more than 1,000 toys to families this year.

The organization was the Chautauqua County USDA Food for Families hub this year during the COVID-19 pandemic, and saw a need to be filled for Christmas as well.

“We reached out to Toys for Tots and in short notice we were able to procure 1,000 toys to give away,” Outpour Project coordinator Erika Lopez said. “Our focus has always been on families and our various programs reflect that. We allowed four gifts per car and we ran out in five hours.”

The event, which took place Saturday, saw volunteers helping to hand out gifts with a special visit by the Grinch. One such story Lopez told was of a grandfather who brought a young girl through and the group had one oversized Teddy Bear.

“The Grinch carried the bear over to the car and the little girl smiled,” Lopez said. “It was the first time the family had seen her smile in months.”

The Project sent out a special thanks to A. Sam’s, Source Liquidator, Pizza Village and others who helped.

“Our prayer was that not one car would be turned away and that prayer was answered,” Lopez said.

The organization has applied to be the USDA hub again for January and is in need of volunteers.

“There are never enough,” Lopez added.

The Outpour Project aides local families in several areas including life skills, anger management and marriage counseling just to name a few. The project is located at 61 E. Fourth St. Dunkirk. All donations they receive go to fill the needs of the community.