The Gary Effect has gone international.

The annual project, started by sisters Kay Lizon and Jessica Boittiaux to honour the memory of their late father Gary Boittiaux, sees the pair — and a team of volunteers — go door-to-door handing out wrapped presents to everyone they meet, just in time for Christmas.

And as the crew headed out to bring presents to Winnipeggers Saturday, groups were doing the same thing in Victoria B.C, and all the way in Mexico.

Kay Lizon, left, and her sister Jessica Boittiaux started the Gary Effect in 2011 in honour of their late father, Gary Boittiaux. (CBC) "It's reached everywhere — it's snowballed," Lizon told CBC News as she and her sister and volunteers set out with bags of gifts in the North End on a chilly Saturday morning. "We want to give back to the community, we want to see people taking care of each other again and not be afraid to hug their neighbours and take a gift and just love each other."

The sisters' cousin in Victoria has adopted the tradition in that part of the country, and it was their aunt who brought the idea to Mexico.

Lizon and Boittiaux started the Gary Effect seven years ago after their father died. Every year, on July 1, Gary Boittiaux and his siblings organized a community Canada Day party in the North End, complete with fireworks, free entertainment, hot dogs, drinks, and ice cream for the everyone in the neighbourhood.

Over the years the tradition got larger and larger, until the sisters say it rivaled the events put on at bigger venues across the city.

Sadly, when their father died, so did the annual Canada Day party.

"My sister and I decided to do something sort of similar, but with a bit of a twist — and that's random acts of kindness," said Boittiaux. "We are following our dad's tradition of kindness."

James Favel of the Bear Clan hands out a free turkey, one of 28 the group donated to the Gary Effect this year. (CBC) This year's base of volunteers included members of the Bear Clan, who brought turkeys to give out to families they met during Saturday's mass-gifting.

"We're really excited to be a part of this," said the Bear Clan's James Favel. "We do community outreach on a daily basis and to be invited to do something like this, where we're giving back in this fashion, is fantastic."

"It's a great opportunity for us to meet some more of our community members and support and be present in the community."

Lizon said the effort wouldn't be possible without the volunteers who come out to help deliver the presents and the donations they receive to buy all the supplies.

Volunteers head out to hand out presents for the Gary Effect Saturday, Dec. 23, 2017. (CBC) They get help from family and work mates, and from strangers too, says Lizon. An annual fundraiser the sisters run leading up to the delivery day raised $3,750 this year.

The sisters say the reaction they get from those who receive a random gift — especially the kids — makes the whole project worth while.

"The hugs that we get, the smiles, the laughter, the joy — that's exactly why we do what we do," said Lizon. "That's what makes it worth it for us."