Christmas time is one of the best times of the year. Unfortunately, it's also one of the most lonely. For 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman, it's a time for giving back.

Over the years, Sherman and his wife, Ashley Moss, have made sure families in the San Jose area were not without something.

Moss said at the beginning, when Sherman was with the Seahawks, they helped one family -- then six, now -- 174.

“It’s always been a time where it’s about family and community for me, and not just immediate blood family, just everybody, bringing people together,” Sherman told The Sacramento Bee's Chris Biderman. “So I understand how much joy and how much happiness it can bring people. I just want to spread that.”

Sherman's Foundation teamed up with Redemption Church to seek out families in need. This year's focus of the gifts was of the home variety: Gift cards to use toward furniture and grocery stores.

“I think people take pride in their homes and sometimes circumstances don’t allow you to have it the way you want,” Sherman said. “And we thought we could help give people a little more freedom in terms of how they dress up their house, at least give them a nice bed, some clothes, some pots and pans.”

Sherman was joined by a dozen of his teammates to take photos with the families and assist with loading bags of gifts into their cars.

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It was a special moment for the five-time Pro Bowler.

"They were crying, their mom was going crazy because they didn’t have anything on their Christmas tree."