Hams and hot dogs were piled high on a table at Heidelberg Union Church Dec. 23, 2013. Cases of eggs were carried inside fellowship hall.

Bags of potatoes were stacked in the lobby.

Brown bags were already packed and ready to provide a Christmas dinner for 27 needy families.

The number of families have ranged from 19 to 36 in past years.

Coordinator Joan Hein said the project began when her husband, Carl, saw a shabby home.

"We should do something for them," he told her at the time.

They did, and that was a start of the food ministry at Heidelberg Union Church.

Soon, there were three families they helped and it was becoming too much for the Heins to handle as it blossomed into a major project.

She contacted the Lutheran Social Ministry in 1980 and asked for help.

United Church of Christ members soon asked if they could participate.

Much of the food is donated but the meats and produce are purchased with money donated by the church council.

Of special interest this year for Courtney Phillips, Hein's granddaughter from California, was a donation of new books from First Book at Lehigh Career and Technical Institute, Schnecksville.

The school's material handling/logistics technology program works as a logistics provider for the First Book organization, which provides new books to children in need.

Each child, ages 1 to 18, received three books suitable for their age level. There are 38 children among the families receiving help.