A Buffalo couple who live on a church campus stocked up on food to spend Christmas with their 9 kids — but when the storm hit, they opened their doors to 130 strangers instead

• A Buffalo couple opened the church where they live to offer food and refuge to dozens of strangers.
• Al and Vivian Robinson initially planned to spend Christmas with their children.

A couple in Buffalo, New York, are being hailed as heroes for feeding more than 100 people during the blizzard that has left at least 39 people dead.

Al Robinson, a pastor with the Spirit of Truth Urban Ministry in the neighborhood of Lovejoy, and his wife, Vivian, live on the church campus.

Al Robinson told the "Today" show that they'd initially planned to spend Christmas weekend with their nine children, who were visiting from out of town. They stocked up on food for their family — but when they learned that residents were trapped in their neighborhood, the couple switched their plans.

"We had people that were freezing to death," Robinson said.

The couple used their Facebook profiles and groups like Buffalo Blizzard Response to encourage locals to take shelter at their church.

"Those that are stranded and stuck in Lovejoy, we are offering shelter here at the church," Robinson wrote on Facebook on December 23, adding the church's address and phone number.

Robinson said that with the two weeks' worth of food they had, they were able to feed about 130 people over the weekend. Robinson added that the couple set up beds and mattresses in the church center to shelter locals.

"People were elderly. We had a 92-year-old that needed oxygen. We had 9-month-olds that needed formula," Robinson told the "Today" show. "We had so many things going on and every one of those needs were met."

Robinson wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday: "I just do not want anyone going hungry. God is shedding His grace on my neighbors."

In a video posted on Facebook on Tuesday, Robinson said he would deliver food and baby formula to people who couldn't make it to the church because of the weather.

In a post on the Buffalo Blizzard Response page on Wednesday, Tametha Ann Brookins, one of the locals the couple helped, expressed gratitude.

"I'm in tears. I've been feeling forsaken and lost hope in the people around me," Brookins wrote. "The bags of food you dropped off today have relieved this fear that I wasn't going to be able to feed myself or kids and I'm breathing easier today."

Robinson and Brookins did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

The Robinsons aren't the only good Samaritans who helped their community during the blizzard in Buffalo.

Sha'Kyra Aughtry rescued a man she'd heard screaming for help outside her home. She and her boyfriend spent two days caring for the man, who's been identified as Joe White, until he could go to the hospital.

And a Buffalo resident whom the police in Cheektowaga dubbed "Merry Christmas Jay" rescued strangers who were trapped in cars.

"He left a note apologizing for the damage & use of the snow blower he used to make a path to the school," the Cheektowaga Police Department tweeted. "We want to thank 'Jay' for his heroic actions that saved people's lives."