Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund: Bringing a ‘little bit of joy’

HADLEY — Day after day after day in 2025, the headlines have kind of looked the same — it’s always about funding cuts at the federal level.

Remember DOGE, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency? Or more recently there was widespread disruptions to low-income households that rely on government assistance to put food on the table, changes to Medicaid in President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” cuts to scientific research … and the list could go on and on.

Given this climate, in which affordability is a buzz word but nothing is affordable for an increasing number of families, John Silvestro and his wife Emily gave $100 to the Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund with the hopes that the economic Grinch doesn’t steal Christmas — even if their donation only helps a single child.

“We have empathy for all the families living through difficult financial times,” said John Silvestro, criticizing national leadership for its lack of empathy. “If we can make one child have a happier Christmas that’s fine. If it brings a little bit of joy, that’s a good thing.”

He also invites people who aren’t struggling financially to do their own small part given the immense need at the moment for financial aid and support. And why the Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund?

“The Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund mobilizes the community, and it makes the participants feel better about themselves and better about their communities,” he said.

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; Holyoke Sporting Goods Co., and 1584 Dwight St. No. 1, Holyoke.

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