The food has arrived.

Saskatoon Co-op store managers unloaded 40-thousand pounds of non-perishable items Monday morning at the Secret Santa warehouse on Faithful Avenue.

Foundation Executive Director Nicole Semko said it’s just part of the community wide effort to help 800 families this year.

The next task is Tuesday night’s packing job in assembly-line fashion by a group of over 100 dedicated volunteers.

They completed the job in a record 46-minutes last year.

Semko said it’s such a rewarding event many of the same volunteers return year-after-year.

The campaign started by late CJWW radio personality Denny Carr 36 years ago has helped around 100-thousand children and 50-thousand families.