Volunteers gathered for the first meeting of the year for Tracy’s Brighter Christmas, which kicked off its annual food and toy drive for the needy this holiday season.

Steve Abercrombie takes over the reigns of the nonprofit group after longtime chair Gene Birk stepped down after 30 years at the helm of the group that provides boxes of food and toys for needy families during the winter. Last year, Brighter Christmas helped 820 families with donations raised from the community.

An army of volunteers is used throughout the holiday season to take applications from families, boxing the food and toys and handing them out. On Wednesday, volunteers met the charity’s board members and found out what events need the most help.

Volunteers wishing to help this year can visit the Brighter Christmas website at www.tracybrighterchristmas.com.

Abercrombie would like anyone who wants to be a volunteer to contact the group by Dec. 4, but anyone can still show up to some of the later events to help. For more volunteer information: 833-3309.