It was a full house on Thursday when 630 CHED Santas Anonymous officially opened its doors to drop-in volunteers.

By early afternoon, the charity had so much support already that some people had to be turned away.

“We were full right away at 9 a.m. when we opened, it was absolutely fantastic,” Santas Anonymous executive director Lana Nordlund said before explaining why some prospective volunteers had to be turned away.

“We were just at capacity with not enough things for them to do,” she said. “So that’s a good thing but a sad thing — we hope the volunteers that we turned away are able to come back on another day.”

WATCH: 630 CHED Santas Anonymous opens its depot for 2018

It was just the first of many days required to ensure all kids in Edmonton wake up to presents under the tree on Christmas morning. Drop-in volunteer hours this year are Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and on weekends from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

There are two major tasks that Santas relies on volunteers for every year: gifting and bagging. Bagging is putting together packages for specific families, but most volunteers will be gifting.

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