HADLEY — The season of giving has arrived and one local resident has been spreading Christmas joy via donations for nearly 40 years.

Virginia (West) Koehler, of Hadley, continued a long-held tradition of contributing to the Daily Hampshire Gazette’s Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund in honor of her late husband Edward Koehler, who died in 1985.

“Every year I’ve given money in memory of him,” Koehler said. “To make children happy.”

On Nov. 26, Koehler’s daughter, Marilyn J. (Koehler) Iwanicki, died after a brief illness. Koehler’s donation this year was also made in honor of her daughter, who was a longtime Gazette employee who delivered newspapers.

“Marilyn worked for the Gazette for many, many years,” Koehler said. “She delivered newspapers, nights, all over Amherst, North Amherst, Pelham, Shutesbury, Leverett, South Amherst, Hadley.”

Koehler added that following her time as a delivery person, Iwanicki worked for ServiceNet and for Highland Valley Elder Services.

Koehler initially drew inspiration from her mother when she began donating, as she described memories of her mother making sure others had a happy holiday, no matter what.

“We were poor, but we always had food to eat,” Koehler said. “My mother put on suppers, lunches for the auctions to raise money to give us kids a nice Christmas so I always give for my husband. Now that Marilyn has just passed away, I put her in memory [too].”

Koehler has called Hadley home her entire life, currently residing on Bay Road, and couldn’t imagine spending the holidays anywhere else.

“I’ve always lived there,” Koehler said. “I just lived two houses down and then when I got married I moved next door and when the family got too big we built a house next door to that.”

Koehler’s sons, Edward and Kenneth, all live in Hadley too while her other daughter Suzin, resides in Westfield.

Named after a former business manager at the Gazette, the Toy Fund began in 1933 to help families in need during the Depression. Today, the fund distributes vouchers worth $65 to qualifying families for each child from age 1 to 14.

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 following stores are participating this year: 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; World Eye Bookshop, 134 Main St., Greenfield; Holyoke Sporting Goods Co., and 1584 Dwight St. No. 1, Holyoke.