The children, from infants to 12-year-olds, sprinted first to a table piled high with stuffed animals, then dashed to the food. When they finished filling their plates the doughnuts were nearly gone, while plenty of fruit remained.

Eleven United Jewish Federation volunteers providing the bounty beamed as the children and their mothers -- residents at East Liberty's Sojourner House, which works with women suffering from alcohol and drug addiction -- enjoyed their Christmas party.

Dec. 25 is just another day on the Jewish calendar, but UJF's Mitzvah Day is changing that quickly. In its seventh year, the community service event drew a record 420 people to more than 30 different sites around Pittsburgh, helping to relieve the burden on Christian volunteers who wanted to spend the day with family.

"Jewish people usually aren't doing too much on Christmas Day," said Suzanne Green, a coordinator of Mitzvah Day for UJF. "So it started with the idea of wouldn't it be nice to give back instead of sitting at home. And it's just spread like wildfire."

In addition to their third straight Christmas at Sojourner House, UJF volunteers served meals at soup kitchens and entertained patients at the VA hospital, among other projects.

Mitzvah, loosely translated from Hebrew, means a good deed or an act of loving kindness, and that altruistic spirit is what brought the crew out to Sojourner House.

They arrived yesterday morning and donned orange T-shirts with a parody of the Michael Jordan "Jumpman" logo, the Star of David taking the place of a basketball, and "Mitzvah Day: Just Do It" across the bottom.

"It's a good, nice feeling that you're spreading holiday spirit," said Ruth Fargotstein, of Squirrel Hill.

Even if it isn't their holiday.

Without concern for the Christian overtones, the volunteers shouted out "Merry Christmas" as the families filtered into the Sojourner House basement. When asked if it felt strange to be spreading Christmas tidings, Natalie Berez laughed.

"We were raised in the American public school system where we all sang Christmas carols," said Ms. Berez, of Squirrel Hill.

They weren't singing yesterday, but they brought stuffed animals and books for the children and handmade scarves for the moms, all made or donated by local synagogues. For everyone, they laid out a table full of sweets, along with less popular bananas, clementines and string cheese. In between mouthfuls, everyone expressed their thanks.

Sojourner House, which opened in 1991, boasts 14 one- or two-bedroom apartments for mothers and their children. To qualify for a spot in the house, a woman must be pregnant or have up to three children. As of yesterday, there were 12 women and 20 children living there.

The addiction program is designed for a five- to six-month stay, and women are not allowed to work or go to school while living in the house.

"The biggest problem for these women is self-esteem," said Dolores Mitchell, program aide supervisor for Sojourner House, gesturing toward the long table of families chowing down on cookies.

"But when people come in and work to do something for them just because, that makes a big difference."