Thousands of people will be receiving critical help this year thanks to your generosity with the Salvation Army's Tree of Lights campaign.

Food will be delivered Wednesday night as part of the organization's Winter Night Watch program. It, along with 19 others on this list, will continue thanks to a successful Tree of Lights campaign this past holiday season, which finally reached its goal in February.

"You have a lot of people coming in crying a lot of times,” said Teresa Villafuerte with the material assistance office.

“The room we are in right now, this is the pantry for our material assistance office,” said Salvation Army Major Paul Smith. The holiday fundraising efforts had to be extended, but the organization reached its goal, racking in more than $3 million. That’s good news for the less fortunate.

"I've talked to a number of people who said last year, I was a volunteer or I was a donor and now I'm in a position where I need to turn to the Salvation Army for assistance,” said Major Smith. It's not just food people are seeking. "Particularly during the winter months, you can't go without heat."

Villafuerte works one-on-one with people in the material assistance office, one of 20 programs funded by the Tree of Lights campaign. "We have a lot of young families trying to get together and start a life and they are finding a lot of problems getting their bills paid and trying to keep their family together."

It breaks her heart to continuously see more and more people who can't afford heating, electricity or a warm meal. “It does kind of tug on your heartstrings for a minute.”