Even with a warm-looking gray hooded jacket, a scarf and gloves, Christmas Eve morning was a cold one for John Pugh outside Clipper Magazine Stadium.

But Pugh, of Lancaster, had a smile on his face just after sunrise Thursday morning, after spending the night waiting outside.

"For this, it's worth standing out here all night," said the 50-year-old Pugh, of 423 Dauphin St., the first person to receive a meal in the big annual food distribution at the ballpark.

"It's tough, and this is going to help a lot," said Pugh, a cook by profession who has been unable to find work.

As the bright sunshine warmed Pugh's face, a line stretched behind him from the stadium's front entrance down Prince Street almost to James Street.

In the end, 1,200 families will be having a turkey and a complete holiday meal thanks to the annual food distribution, held early Thursday morning at the stadium.

The 23rd annual Christmas Eve food distribution by the Lancaster County Project for the Needy was held for the second straight year at the North Prince Street stadium.

Along with dispensing meals to everyone in about an hour, it drew what organizers called a record number of volunteers, topping last year's previous record of 500-plus volunteers.

Pugh, who has four in his family, was at the turkey-dinner distribution for the first time.

So he was glad for the meal, as well as for the coffee and hot chocolate that folks were handing out toward morning, he said.

Others in line said how, with the tough economy, they're thankful for those who take part in the food effort.

"It's nice that the community helps out people who really need food and really need help … I really appreciate it," said one woman who lives in Lititz.

"Things are tough, with the economy and everything, and it's just rough," said the woman, who said her husband had lost his job and she needs to have surgery soon.

"It's great that so many people come out the day before Christmas and give of their time," said Tom Fasnacht, the distribution's main organizer.

"It makes you feel good, and it's a great way to give back," he said.

The arriving volunteers, who got there well ahead of the 8 a.m. start to the distribution, joined what was a quick, efficient assembly line.

Each grabbed a big box, and then joined a line that led down the stadium's third-base side.

Near where the upper deck of the ballpark ended, the line curled back the other way, as other volunteers put the various items, ranging from turkeys containers of stuffing, in the boxes.

The meals were given out to the recipients at the main stadium gate.

Among the ways they brought home their meals were grocery carts, a wheelchair and at least one sled.

"A lot of them (recipients) were really happy," noted volunteer Janet Fisher of Columbia afterward.

"It's awesome, if they need it, that they can come and get it. People were crying, they were so happy," she added.

It's great to be able to help, volunteer Scott Gerberich said. "This is a neat way of doing it," he added.

Christmas carols broke out here and there among the volunteers as they worked, and there were plenty of Santa and elf hats in the crowd.

Volunteer Steve Kutcher kept a smile on his face as he sat on the end of a truck, handing out the empty boxes that were soon filled with the meals.

This was the second straight year the effort was held at the stadium, which, with its ice rink out in right field and snow-covered ballfield, looked more like a ski resort than a baseball park.

The food distribution had been held for years in Lancaster Square.

The Project for the Needy is a nonprofit organization that relies on donations to serve those in need.

Fasnacht was asked afterward if he's relieved when the huge effort is finished for the year, and he answered, "Yes and no ... it's a relief when it's over, but I enjoy doing it.

"Plus, it's good being around that many people and being with your family, friends and co-workers."

With more and more volunteers each year, they also are getting done "a little bit quicker every year," he added.

doconnor@lnpnews.com