Press Herald Toy Fund adds children’s books to a longstanding tradition

For more than seven decades, the Press Herald Toy Fund has brought a dose of joy to children who might otherwise go without special gifts during the holiday season.

This year, the toy fund continues that tradition while shifting its buying operation to support the local economy by ordering toys and other gifts directly from Maine businesses. And for the first time, the fund will provide a new book for every child.

“The team has been working hard to prepare for this year’s toy fund effort,” said Stefanie Manning, the newspaper’s group vice president for consumer marketing and chair of the fund’s board. of toys. “We are especially pleased to be able to keep the funds we raise in Maine by purchasing toys and books from local retailers and organizations.”

For many years, the toy fund had purchased toys from out-of-state wholesalers. This year, the charity ordered gifts through Reny’s, which has branches across the state, and handcrafted wooden toys from the state prison showroom. of Maine. Gifts were also purchased from Sherman’s Maine Coast Books, which has five Maine locations, and Catalyst for Change Wear, a local business that donates a portion of the proceeds from each item sold to nonprofits and organizations. causes.

The books were ordered from Scholastic through Stevens Brook Elementary School in Bridgton. Principal Courtney Smith said the arrangement earns school points that he can use to buy books for classrooms for students to take home.

Last year, the toy fund provided gifts to approximately 3,200 children from families in York, Cumberland, Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox and Androscoggin counties. The need will likely be just as great this year, if not greater, as families try to cope with the rising costs of everyday expenses, said Kathleen Meade, director of the toy fund.

“There are so many families in our service area who really don’t have the ability to pay for all the expenses, in addition to giving gifts to their children. If they decide to give gifts to their children, there is something else missing like food or paying the bills on time,” Meade said.

The toy fund – still known to many as the Bruce Roberts fund – began 72 years ago when Portland Evening Express editor Robert Bruce Beith, who wrote a column under the pen name Bruce Roberts , has teamed up with Matthew Barron, Portland’s assistant director of welfare, to help local parents who were unable to buy their children’s Christmas gifts.

Since then, the toy fund has spent millions of dollars in reader donations to purchase toys for hundreds of thousands of children who would otherwise not receive gifts due to job loss, divorce, domestic violence, illness or death of a family member. Families of all denominations and religious traditions receive help.

The charity was taken over by the Press Herald when the Evening Express ceased publication in 1990. The Brunswick Times Record and the Lewiston Sun Journal, both of which have readers in the communities served by the toy fund, are also partners in the annual fundraiser.

The Toy Fund’s work would not be possible without the efforts of the volunteers who sign up each year to help, many of whom have recently retired or were once dependent on The Toy Fund to help provide gifts for their own children.

“We have incredibly dedicated volunteers,” Meade said. “They came out even when many other places were losing volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic. They are determined to help these children.

Other volunteers are always welcome to join in the effort of preparing and distributing packages to parents and guardians. This year, that work will be done at the Press Herald headquarters on Gannett Drive in South Portland.

The Toy Fund is now accepting applications from families needing help with children up to age 16.

To donate online, sign up as a volunteer or ask for help, go to pressherald.com/toy-fund.

Checks made out to the Portland Press Herald Toy Fund can be mailed to 295 Gannett Drive, South Portland ME 04106. Donor names are published in the Press Herald, Sun Journal and Times Record unless a donor wishes to remain anonymous.

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