Like soldiers, volunteers made trip after trip with armfuls of food from a moving truck into the Newburgh Activity Center on Monday, as they plan to alleviate some holiday stress of a large fraction of the city's population.

They are setting the stage for Tuesday, when nearly 1,000 pre-registered families will arrive to get everything necessary for them to make the perfect dinner on Thursday.

Of course, 1,000 Newburgh-area families will amount to several thousand individuals who will pack the activity center, whose common area looked like a food co-op with all the table tops so full of Thanksgiving staples that volunteers also packed the spaces under the tables.

"If there's six people [in a family], they'll get food enough to make a dinner for six people," explained volunteer Dorothy Flournoy. "They'll go from table to table and pick up what they need."

Volunteers with the non-profit Loaves and Fishes have been organizing this giveaway for nearly 30 years.

They told Spectrum News that between the first giveaway and this week's, the need for this service to families has grown significantly, but also that the base of volunteers to help those families has also grown.

They said several local churches, food pantries, schools and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh have consistently offered more donations and more volunteers hours each year to keep up with the demand.

"It is a boon to Newburgh," volunteer Anne Vollmer said.

Vollmer, an organizer for Habitat, said 30 volunteers from her organization came to help set up the massive giveaway on Monday.

She agreed that the energy packed into this room should be a morale boost, not just for the families who will receive the food, but anyone who cares about the future of Newburgh.

Vollmer said the scene should serve as a well-timed reminder of the people power the city has, especially since the city is trying to scrape itself out of a financial crisis.

"This city is really, really, coming alive," she said. "It's wonderful."

This year, the volunteers will provide more than just the food. They are offering resources to help connect families to healthcare.

Since Habitat is involved, the families will be able to meet with the non-profit's experts to learn more about home ownership.