NORTHAMPTON — The applications are in, the vouchers are going out and the presents are ready to be claimed.

It’s that time of year again when the Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund launches its appeal and generous donors respond. The fund provides vouchers for families to buy toys and other gifts for their children. Last year, donations amounted to $60,092.77.

Gazette Publisher Shawn Palmer said he wasn’t sure Smith, the newspaper’s business manager at the time, could have envisioned the impact the Toy Fund would continue to have, 90 years after he launched it in 1933.

“But if he thought about it, he would have realized that it was set up for success from the beginning,” Palmer said. “It has always been a way for neighbors to help the children of their own neighborhood. At this time of the year, for over 90 years, that sentiment is as strong as ever.”

Begun as a way to help families in need during the Depression, the Toy Fund distributes vouchers worth $50 to qualifying families for each child from age 1 to 14.

This year, the fund will provide certificates to more than 1,050 children, Gazette Business Manager Patti Wasilewski said. This is a substantial increase from last year, when 900 vouchers were redeemed.

Applications were sent out in September to agencies such as United Way and Community Action Pioneer Valley. The application deadline was Nov. 14.

The Gazette collects the applications, enters the information in a spreadsheet and sends it to Kerrin Graphics in Dudley, which prints out the certificates and sends them back to the Gazette to be mailed out to the families.

“All the administrative costs are covered by the Gazette,” Wasilewski said.

As donations come in, the payments are compiled and the donors’ names are listed in the newspaper in the way they request. The money received last year will be used to cover the vouchers for this year. The money is held by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts.

“The Gazette administers the fund but the real work is done by our readers and neighbors, brightening the holidays for a child in need,” Palmer said. “It truly is the magic of the season.”

Toy Fund donors were particularly generous during the peak pandemic years, giving $66,427 in 2021 and $82,376 in 2020, which is believed to be a record for donations.

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.

Donations can be made online at gazettenet.com or mailed to Daily Hampshire Gazette, P.O. Box 299, Northampton, MA 01061.

Staff Writer James Pentland can be reached at jpentland@gazettenet.com.