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As thousands of local families experienced deep economic despair this holiday season, help came in spades.

The Giving Tree Outreach Program, which gives out free meals year-round, received an unprecedented amount in donations and help this holiday season.

On Christmas Day, 300 people ranging in age from 4 to senior citizens turned up to volunteer for its two holiday dinners. Relieved organizers had been expecting only 30 volunteers on a day when nearly 4,000 people lined up for meals.

During the last week of December, community members gave the faith-based program $75,000 in cash donations.

"I've always known this was a generous town, but this time I think they went above and beyond my expectations," said Libby Wright, director of The Giving Tree, a 20-year-old non-profit group that serves free meals every day.

"I spent a lot of time crying tears of joy, I tell you."

Wright said she believes media attention helped with the overwhelming community response, as did the fact that people can easily visit the Midtown location and see the need firsthand.

"I really believe everyone wants to do something to make a difference. They just don't know where to go," she said.

Lorna Cerenzia, who is from Bellingham, Wash., said she went to The Giving Tree to dish out food on New Year's Day, just after she arrived in Tucson for her annual monthlong stay.

"For me being a snowbird isn't about golf and bridge: It's about being useful," she said. "My husband stopped at the Macaroni Grill to pick up the pasta they donate. We brought it over and helped serve it as people came through. They came through so fast I have no idea how many there were. . . . But there were lots of families."

Cerenzia, who is already known at The Giving Tree as "Grandma Lorna," will be volunteering there until she returns to Bellingham in February.

"If your heart is moved by seeing children who have had scary lives and desperate moms and dads whose lives didn't turn out the way they wanted, you just want to do whatever you can to help," Cerenzia said.

"If God has blessed me with everything I need, he certainly expects me to share it."

During Christmas week, The Giving Tree served free meals to about 10,000 Tucsonans and gave free gifts to 6,592 children, Wright said. That's double the number of people it served during the 2007 holiday season.

Yet accompanying that increased need was a rise in generosity from Tucsonans. In addition to cash and volunteer time, people responded to The Giving Tree's wish list with more than 1,000 jackets and blankets.

It also received some heftier donations — two houses and cash for a third, which The Giving Tree will use as transitional housing for some of its clients. A fourth house was offered to the group to use as a retreat. Currently, a client at The Giving Tree who suffers from cancer is staying there.

"In these tough times and in this tough economy, there were people who had lost their jobs but had savings and they went out and bought blankets, and gave us help. They knew how it felt to lose a job," Wright said.

"The great thing is that people really do care."