With the labor supplied by volunteers and the financial support from donors, the Toy Fund reaches about 3,000 children each year.

Employees from Spurwink, which supports families and children with developmental disabilities and mental health challenges, are distributing toys to 40 families in the Lewiston area that struggle to provide holiday gifts to their children.

Many parents who didn't expect to need help say elevated prices of all the essentials have left no money for holiday gifts this year.

Mary Lou Shuster of South Portland always rooted for the charity to raise enough money so other children would have a joyful holiday, too.

After sorting and packing gifts for weeks, volunteers have begun handing some of the toys and books off to the social service agencies that will distribute them to families.

Numerous parents write to the toy fund that they face the holidays without a home, or a way to provide holiday gifts to their children.

A longtime Press Herald Toy Fund volunteer is remembered through donations from friends and family.

Many parents say rising costs and expiring pandemic relief programs are making holiday gifts an unaffordable luxury.

The Toy Fund was launched amid difficult economic conditions in 1949, and once again families are struggling this year and asking for help.

For the first time, the annual Press Herald Toy Fund will provide a new book for every child and is now ordering gifts through Maine-owned businesses.

The deadline for applications was Nov. 20, 2022. If you submit an application after the deadline you will be placed on a waitlist.

Donations are still arriving, and they are accepted year-round.

Donations are still coming in, and the newspapers will continue to publish the names of donors in the coming days.

A single mom 'who is working very hard and still has trouble making ends meet' will have gifts for her 2 kids this year.

The father and son lost everything in the fire, including Christmas presents.

Organizers shared $1,000 of the fundraiser's proceeds with the Press Herald Toy Fund this year.

With the pandemic eating into household finances, many families have nothing left for gifts for their kids.