HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) -- Families in the Phoebus community started the week off with a toy giveaway, as the 8th Annual 249 Ninja Toy Giveaway packed the Phoebus High School gymnasium Sunday, Dec. 22. "We're just having a good time," Delvin Moore, 249 Ninja toy giveaway organizer said. "We have haircuts. We're giving out gifts. We have food [from] Marco's pizza. We have a mental health therapist. We have a raffle. We gave away some bikes, just a whole lot going on of us giving back to the community." Moore tells WAVY Photojournalist Nick Harrison the event started in a small room at the North Phoebus Community Center. The donation drive and toy giveaway has since grown into a highly sought after Peninsula event.  "I came up with this event because I'm from this community, I'm from the previous community, and growing up, I was troubled, and I'm giving back because that's, you know, because I was troubled, and I got my life together," Moore said. "And when I was growing up, no one gave back to the community like I'm doing now. And not saying that it would have changed my life, but it could have changed my life. So, it's very important to give back to show kids that they can do something more than be in the streets." Moore believes giving back to the community is the best way to pay it forward.  "What you put out to the universe is what you get back," Moore said. "I'm 11 years sober on alcohol...  I used to be in the streets a lot. Ever since I stopped drinking alcohol, my entire life has changed and that resonates with this, with this toy drive." "The 249 Ninja had a dream, [he] had a vision, and his reach is so strong. We've had the largest number of volunteers. We've had a record number of families to show up, man, and we couldn't have asked for a better day. Nobody does it like Phoebus," said Imara Gabe Diaz, Hampton Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer. "This is my hood. We're at 100 Ireland Street, I grew up on Ireland Street, so this is something different. This is something special. I graduated from this school. My children graduated from this school. When I want to give back, I always come here first." The organizers start collecting donations in the summer. "It's a contagious philanthropic event, really," Moore said. "What people see others doing good. It just makes them want to pitch in and do good. And people see the small sparks make a big impact. It just really just passes that camaraderie around to the community and lets them know, like you have a part to play, whether it's just showing up and volunteering, whether it was rapping a gift. I mean, it's just a beautiful thing."  The goal is to have the toy giveaway inside the Hampton Coliseum.   "Next year, our plan is to be hopefully in the Coliseum," Moore said. "We're going to speak that into existence because we've outgrown the Phoebus Gym. We started out at North Phoebus Community Center and we're here now and it's just outgrown this gym... We have so many people involved that we basically ran out of space here. I can't wait to see you all next year and serve you again."