BATON ROUGE - Many spend their Christmas at home with family but St. Vincent de Paul instead got their church family together to feed the needy and homeless.

St Vincent de Paul CEO Michael Acaldo says they've been doing this for years and this year they are hitting record numbers.

"We've been seeing record crowds here at our dining room. 280-thousand meals this year and without a doubt, we're going to have a heavy Christmas. So we know that the need is great in our local community," said Acado.

There were people lined up outside the dining hall hours before the doors opened for this much needed holiday meal. Helen Anderson was one of the people standing in line she wanted to make sure she was the first to get in.

"I came here at 8:30 in the morning. They always say, the early bird gets the worm", Anderson said.

Those who came out were also given free clothing and grocery baskets to take home.

Along with meals and groceries, the little ones were given toys, thanks to the efforts of Sylvia's Toys for Christmas toy drive.