A parent’s illness or injury can quickly throw a family into financial disarray, and it’s the reason many requests for help arrive at the Press Herald Toy Fund.

A mother of three in York County wrote to the fund that she is sick and can’t work. She is receiving disability insurance to help cover the family’s basic expenses, but that won’t provide Christmas gifts for the children.

“I am in need of assistance because I can barely make ends meet. I an on disability and have leukemia. I do not have any money for Christmas,” she wrote in a letter to the fund.

A mother from the midcoast wrote that her husband has a seasonal job that covers most of their costs, but she hasn’t be able to work to help support their son.

“I am disabled and have applied for Social Security but have not received a determination. I have had no income since 2015,” she wrote.

• THE TOY FUND uses donations from readers to provide toys to thousands of Maine children who might otherwise not receive holiday gifts because of hardships faced by their parents. Now in its 69th year, the fund is accepting applications for toys from needy families in York, Cumberland, Sagadahoc, Androscoggin, Lincoln and Knox counties.

• APPLICATIONS can be downloaded at pressheraldtoyfund.org or picked up at the Press Herald’s Welcome Center, at 295 Gannett Drive in South Portland. Call 791-6672 or 791-6600 to have one mailed to you.

• DONATIONS to help buy the toys can be made at pressheraldtoyfund.org or by writing checks to the Portland Press Herald Toy Fund and mailing them to the fund at P.O. Box 7310, Portland, ME 04112.

• FOR MORE INFORMATION, go to: pressheraldtoyfund.org.

• SEE MORE STORIES about the fund at pressherald.com/press-herald-toy-fund/.