St. Paul Lutheran Church was offering the gift of giving.

The church held its “Christmas with Dignity” holiday gift program for needy families on Saturday.

The giveaway began at 10 a.m. and numerous residents waited in line to get inside the church.

Pastor Mike Poole said the church saw a need to help both children and their parents receive gifts this holiday season.

“We felt that there was a need. We partnered with All Saints Lutheran Church in Worthington,” Poole said. “We felt that it is part of the witness to our faith to do it.”

Those who waited in line, were able to walk in and pick out the items for their family they wanted. There were no questions asked, as gifts were arranged on shelves unwrapped and sorted by age group.

Poole said they do it in a way to restore dignity and confidence in those who are less fortunate. This is the second year the church has held the event, last year they had about 675, this year Poole said, they anticipated between 1,500 to 2,000.

After parents finish shopping for their children, they were given gift wrap and tags so they could wrap them themselves. Children were also given the opportunity to shop for a gift for their family members.

People started arriving at the church as early as 2:30 a.m. Poole said he served some coffee around 5:30 a.m. to those who were waiting outside.

By early morning, there was a long line of people waiting to enter the sanctuary.

Poole said they had 5,000 total gifts this year donated by residents, businesses and volunteers. Last year they had 3,200 gifts.

“Everything is donated,” Poole said.

The last two years the church has also received a grant from Hasbro Toys, which donated 250 toys to the event.

They also received another grant from Thrivent — a Lutheran non-profit organization — which donated $1,600 which Poole said is how they were able to rent a tent this year. Refreshments were available in the tent for people after they finished shopping.

Besides those two grants, everything else was donated.

Volunteer Wilma Boggess, a member of the church, said she was happy the church was able to do this for the area and thanked some other volunteers for helping out.

“The Rock Hill Honor Society and the boys from STARS have been a wonderful help,” she said as she worked in the “Secret Santa” room.