SKOWHEGAN — A line of cars waited outside the Federated Church on Wednesday morning, their drivers ready to pick up Christmas presents.

A team of elves, meanwhile, was running inside the church with names scribbled on sticky notes, returning each time with gift bags personally packed and labeled for each child whose family requested one.

It was only 9 a.m. — and the day was just beginning, with hundreds more bags waiting inside that would be distributed throughout the day.

This coordinated operation, known as the Sweet Dreams Project, is the closest thing to a real-life Santa’s workshop right in Skowhegan. And this year’s gift giveaway was bigger than ever.

In its 10th year, the project was set to give away gifts for about 800 children from 367 families across Somerset County, according to organizer Deb Tanner.

“The need is just so great,” Tanner said. “The stories that you hear are heartbreaking. You know that kids are getting this bag for Christmas — and probably that’s it.”

Tanner, a longtime math teacher at Skowhegan Area Middle School, started the project in 2016 as a way to give back to the community after winning Somerset County Teacher of the Year in 2015.

Initially, the idea was to give each child who participated a book and pajamas. Tanner and her team provided gifts for 114 kids in their first year.

Now, each child receives a bag with those, as well as typically three other items. And the number of children whose families request gifts has increased every year.

“It grows and grows and grows,” said Tanner’s friend Lisa Duguay, who partnered with Tanner to start the project 10 years ago.

Tanner and her team collect information when people sign up via an online form, like the child’s age, gender and clothing size, to make sure the gifts they pick are appropriate. They had gifts for any age, from newborns to teenagers; older kids make up a large portion of the requests.

Tanner, Duguay, and her daughters, Kaley Brown and Aly Brown, started packing the bags in October. Tanner said they lost track of how many hours it took.

Pickup day was Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the project’s home base at the Skowhegan Federated Church on Island Avenue, where Tanner’s husband, the Rev. Mark Tanner, is the pastor. Some people were asked to pick up their gifts before Wednesday because there was simply not enough space inside to store everything, Deb Tanner said.

Inside several rooms in the church, the gift bags were labeled with information about each child, and organized alphabetically and by family to make them easy to find.

Across from the church at Tewksbury Hall, organizers set up a pop-up shop where people could buy second-hand items for no more than a few dollars. Tanner said the proceeds from that sale support the Sweet Dreams Project.

They were also giving away free food left over from a Thanksgiving food box program also run out of the church.

The annual Christmas effort is supported by donations, including from several local organizations and businesses, among them Skowhegan Savings Bank, Al’s Pizza, Gifford’s Ice Cream, Walmart and local Masonic lodges, Tanner said. 

More businesses support the project each year, she added, and shopping for and collecting items happens year-round.

The project aims to serve Somerset County residents — including those who live as far away as Moose River, about 75 miles away from Skowhegan — but Tanner said she has a hard time saying no when people from other areas reach out to her because she wants to help the kids.

“I never thought of this, and this is one of those things you just don’t think about: They’re embarrassed to apply in their own community,” Tanner said. “So, they apply here and drive all the way up here to get it.”

Tanner said she often gets calls after the signup period ends, or even after the distribution day and before Christmas, from people who did not know about the project. She tries to help them, too.

Vicky Bowring and her daughter Hannah Wheeler, both of Clinton, were among those who found out after project organizers closed off the request form. Wheeler said she saw a social media post recently and she reached out via email to ask if the project could still provide gifts for her 5-year-old son.

“It’s awesome what they do,” she said, while waiting outside the church Wednesday morning.

“We’re appreciative,” Bowring said. “It definitely helps.”

Caroline Lumb, of Hartland, also found out about the project this year through Facebook. She was picking up gifts Wednesday morning for her three children, ages 1, 4 and 5.

“That’s going to be a fun Christmas,” Duguay told her with a smile.