Working families stretched thin by rising costs appeal to Toy Fund for holiday help

Many of the letters to the charity this season are coming from Maine parents struggling to keep up with basic needs like rent and food, despite having steady incomes — limiting their ability to afford presents for their children.

Posted December 11, 2025

Press Herald staff report

It’s easy to understand why so many families turn to the Press Herald Toy Fund when experiencing an illness, a breakup or a layoff.

Unanticipated hardships have forced parents to seek the charity’s help for 76 years, even in the best economic times.

But this year, many of the pleas for help come from families who simply can no longer afford rent, heat, food or other basic needs despite steady incomes and, in some cases, multiple jobs. It’s another reflection of an unforgiving economy that is testing the capacity of nonprofits such as the Toy Fund, which uses readers’ donations to buy toys and books for children in need.

“We are a family of five,” a mother from central Maine wrote to the Toy Fund. “Me and my husband both work full-time jobs … just to be able to afford our bills.”

The couple’s youngest child has autism and needs full-time care, so they work different shifts to maintain both incomes. Nevertheless, she wrote, “we are struggling to just afford the basics at times. To be able to afford Christmas gifts for three kids would mean some bills go unpaid. I always feel others are worse off, so I have never received help for Christmas before. It would be a huge blessing if we could this year.”

Theirs is one of many two-income families in need this year.

“I am a mother of two with a full-time job and trying to finish college. My husband works overtime to keep us from drowning financially,” a mother from southern Maine wrote. “We’ve been using the food pantries to help with groceries and sometimes that’s not enough. Like everyone else, we’re struggling to make a dollar stretch.”

There also are many letters from single parents who never needed help before but say their once-adequate incomes are falling short this year.

“I am a single mother of a 9-year-old daughter,” one mother from York County wrote. “I am a phlebotomist who works in healthcare (but) I am having a hard time keeping up with all of our bills and rent. I want to be able to give my daughter a nice Christmas where she can enjoy some things I am not able to get for her. … Any help at all would be appreciated, very much so.”

Another single mother, from Cumberland County, wrote that she needs help despite working multiple jobs.

“I pay for rent, utilities, groceries and all of the children’s needs by myself,” she wrote. “Everything is so expensive and the prices just keep rising. I work full time with two part-time jobs and still live paycheck to paycheck. I would greatly appreciate the help, as I know my children would too.”

The Toy Fund uses the donations of newspaper readers to buy toys and books for kids up to 16 years old in York, Cumberland, Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Androscoggin and Knox counties.

The Portland Press Herald and Lewiston Sun Journal publish lists of the donations along with stories about the holiday gift drive from Thanksgiving through the month of December.

HOW TO HELP:

To make a donation online, go to pressherald.com/toy-fund.

Checks made out to the Portland Press Herald Toy Fund may be mailed to 295 Gannett Drive, South Portland ME 04106.

Names of donors are published in the Press Herald and Lewiston Sun Journal unless a donor wishes to remain anonymous.

TODAY’S DONATIONS:

$52.92: Anonymous
$50.00: Merry Christmas — Sandra and Steven Capriola
$210.73: Nancy and Ken Gordon
$100.00: Craig S. and Gail D. Kinney
$200.00: In memory of our parents, John and Peggy McKinnon, who loved Christmas. Marijane, Penny, Jack, Tonie, Bruce and their children — Marijane C. Davock
$100.00: In memory of RJF — Leslie S. Fissmer
$50.00: In memory of my mother, Dorothy. — Anonymous
$100.00: Michael Curci
$19.91: In memory of Casey — Susan J. Newton
$50.00: In loving memory of my parents, Norman W. Fournier and Laurieanne T. Fournier. — Anonymous
$100.00: Anonymous
$100.00: Richard & Kimberly K. Brooks
$25.00: Anonymous
$250.00: Thanks for all you do! Everest, Mackenzie and Cameron Freeman. Merry Merry! — Linda & Max Freeman
$100.00: In memory of Skyrocket — Amy L. Shinn
$200.00: Carole M. Logan
$125.00: Sabra A. Mumford
$250.00: Marc & Martha Gagne
$300.00: For the joy of our grandchildren: Alanna (& Peter), Sam, Jordan, Noah, Lara, Maria, Ethan, Dara, James, Meriwether, Finn and Oliver — Mary and William Holt
$100.00: Happy Holidays! — Ruthann K. and Dan M. Baker
$100.00: Elizabeth Rennie

Year to date total: $49,752.23.

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