MINOT (AP) - The volume of food and toys distributed through the Horn of Plenty over the past 25 years would make an impressive display if totaled together. The size of the physical gift isn't what impresses Horn of Plenty founder Dick Leavitt, though.

"We get so caught up in the fact that we are providing all this food and all these toys. It goes so much deeper. I can speak from experience in delivering to families," he said.

He recalled making an evening delivery a few years ago to a young mother who had tears come to her eyes when she saw the food and toys. She pulled the milk from the gift box and went to a basically empty refrigerator to retrieve a baby bottle. She filled the bottle with milk and began feeding her baby while her other children tore at the boxes, bypassing the toys to get to the food. She said it was the first meal for her baby that day.

"I left that place and got to thinking that there was a half gallon of milk in that box. That's not going to go very far," Leavitt said. "So I personally went over to the store and I bought a bunch more milk and stuff like that and I brought it back to her."

On another occasion, he wasn't able to connect with a recipient by phone so decided to drop by. He found a woman preparing to commit suicide.

Until the boxes came, she said, "I didn't know anybody cared about me in this community."

Leavitt said he was able to connect her with a counselor by phone. Ultimately, the story had a happy ending, but it's not the only story like that. Leavitt said other delivery teams have encountered situations into which they've brought hope that has saved lives, marriages and families.

"It's so beautiful that God has given the delivery people the knowledge and know-how to meet those people's needs," he said.

"God is at the heart of the program. That's why it is so successful," Leavitt said.

The Horn of Plenty grew out of Leavitt's desire in 1984 to find the right charitable cause for his Christmas gift. The owner of KHRT Christian radio, Leavitt decided his station should take its charitable contribution directly to the people in need. His only worry was finding the needy families.

"I thought we would have a hard time finding 10 or 25 families that were in need at the level that we wanted to help," he said. "I didn't want to have a welfare program. It's to try to reach out to families that were struggling - still making it but not very well."

Leavitt involved the radio staff, although they had no more experience at this type of thing than he did.

"God just formulated the whole thing for me because I had no idea what we were going to do," Leavitt said. "It was the message of Christ that was the inspiration for it."

Applications came in slowly at first. The day after the application deadline, Leavitt went to the mailbox and pulled out envelope after envelope. He had only enough money to provide for the anticipated 25 families. With 84 applications in hand, he went to his Horn of Plenty partner, Tom McDonald, owner of Red Owl grocery, to ask what they were going to do.

McDonald suggested Leavitt go on the air and ask his listeners for help. As Leavitt arrived back at the station, the phone rang. It was McDonald, exclaiming how fast the radio plea worked. He'd already had two people come to the store and hand him $100. Leavitt had to tell him that he hadn't put the request on the air yet.

Leavitt broadcast the request that morning and by 5 p.m. had raised $6,000, which was enough to supply the 84 families. Each family that first year received a Bible. In subsequent years, the program has given Bibles, Christian videos or other ministry materials.

In 1985, Horn of Plenty incorporated as the nonprofit I Help so people could make tax-deductible gifts. The number of applicants jumped to about 300 that year, and numbers have stayed in that 300 to 400 range since.

Leavitt said most people in need tend to be invisible in a community. People must make a conscious effort to look, he said.

"That's what I ask the people to do, is please be aware," he said. "The people in the community are the eyes and ears of the Horn of Plenty."