For generations of families in Hampshire and southern Franklin counties, the Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund constitutes just as much a part of the holiday season as yuletide caroling and chestnuts roasting.
The fund has its origins in 1933, during the height of the Great Depression. The Daily Hampshire Gazette’s business manager at the time and the fund’s namesake, Sidney F. Smith, saw the effects that bad economic times could have on children and decided to do something to give them some joy during Christmastime.
Now, 92 years later, that idea of giving continues to resonate, with the Toy Fund partnering with dozens of local businesses to provide vouchers worth $65 per child to families to provide holiday gifts for their children. The vouchers can then be exchanged at select local businesses, with the Gazette reimbursing them for the cost. The fund raised around $53,000 last year, directly impacting more than 1,000 children in the area.
“The Toy Fund is the epitome of local,” said Gazette Publisher Shawn Palmer. “It’s local people wanting to help local kids and local businesses.”
The Gazette absorbs all the administrative costs of the drive, collecting applications and mailing vouchers out to eligible families. Applications are received by local community outreach organizations including the United Way and Community Action Pioneer Valley.
To be eligible for the Toy Fund, families must live in any Hampshire County community except Ware, or in the southern Franklin County towns of Deerfield, Sunderland, Whately, Shutesbury and Leverett, and in Holyoke in Hampden County. The fund provides toys for children 1-14 years of age.
Vouchers will be redeemable at the following stores: A2Z Science and Learning Store, 57 King St., Northampton; Blue Marble/Little Blue, 150 Main St., Level 1, Northampton; High Five Books, 141 N. Main St., Florence; The Toy Box, 201 N. Pleasant St., Amherst; Comics N More, 64 Cottage St., Easthampton; Once Upon A Child,1458 Riverdale St., West Springfield; Plato’s Closet, 1472 Riverdale St., West Springfield; Sam’s Outdoor Outfitters, 227 Russell St., Hadley; Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St., Village Commons, South Hadley; The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, 125 W. Bay Road, Amherst; and Holyoke Sporting Goods Co., 1584 Dwight St. No. 1, Holyoke.
Donations can be made by mailing them to the Gazette at P.O. Box 299, Northampton 01061, or by using the online portal found at toyfund.gazettenet.com.
As donations come in, the Gazette publishes donors’ names in the way they request and the newspaper’s staff highlight the spirit of giving with stories about the toy fund’s donors, recipients, and what it means to them.