Poverello House hands out toys for Christmas

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- More than 1,000 Valley families spent their Christmas morning at the Poverello House.

Volunteers and community members collected 4,500 toys throughout the holiday season, meaning each child could have at least two toys to unwrap on Thursday. About 80 volunteers spent the past few days wrapping all of those toys for the giveaway.

Families were also served breakfast and lunch. The Poverello House says they've noticed an increased need this year.

"We've seen more families this year. As I've been walking out and looking at the line and how long it's been, you see more families than we did last year, so there are definitely more families that we're handing out gifts to this year," said Cruz Avila with the Poverello House.

Staff members spent their Christmas handing out those toys and making sure no one went hungry on Thursday.