Peterborough’s Sunshine Fund helps families provide gifts for children at Christmas

The Sunshine Fund’s annual holiday shop has gifts for children through age 18. 

The Sunshine Fund’s annual holiday shop has gifts for children through age 18.  STAFF PHOTO BY JESSECA TIMMONS

Erika Alusic-Bingham of Community Action Partnership Hillsborough and Rockingham Counties organizes items at the Sunshine Fund toy room. 

Erika Alusic-Bingham of Community Action Partnership Hillsborough and Rockingham Counties organizes items at the Sunshine Fund toy room.  STAFF PHOTO BY JESSECA TIMMONS

Erika Alusic-Bingham sorts through donations at the Sunshine Fund  toy room. 

Erika Alusic-Bingham sorts through donations at the Sunshine Fund  toy room.  STAFF PHOTO BY JESSECA TIMMONS

Erika Alusic-Bingham of Community Action Partnership of Hillsborough and Rockingham Counties (formerly known as Southern New Hampshire Services) at the Sunshine Fund toy room in Peterborough. 

Erika Alusic-Bingham of Community Action Partnership of Hillsborough and Rockingham Counties (formerly known as Southern New Hampshire Services) at the Sunshine Fund toy room in Peterborough.  STAFF PHOTO BY JESSECA TIMMONS

By JESSECA TIMMONS

Monadnock Ledger Transcript

Published: 12-19-2024 12:01 PM

Every year during the holidays, Peterborough’s Sunshine Fund toy room helps local families who may need a little help providing gifts for their children. 

The toy room program is an all-community effort. Each year, volunteers from the Peterborough Fire & Ambulance Department collect the gifts donated by the public and bring them to a designated storage space, where staff from Community Action Partnership of Hillsborough and Rockingham Counties, or CAPHR, (formerly known as Southern New Hampshire Services) sort and organize the gifts for parents and guardians. 

“The toy room is free of charge and there is no paperwork. People just need to  call me to make an appointment, ” said Erika Alusic-Bingham of CAPHR. “We have items for children of all ages, babies through age 18. A lot of programs don’t have anything for children over 13, so we are unusual in that way.”

Families who would like to make an appointment to shop should contact Alusic-Bingham at 603-924-9601. Appointments are currently available on Thursday and Friday. 

The toy room has gift cards, sports, clothing and other items appropriate for teenagers. 

A young mother of three shopping at the toy room on Monday said this was her third year taking part in the program.

“It’s great to have this program; I’m very glad to have it here. The people who run it are wonderful,” she said. “I used to be homeless, and now I’m in school to be a cosmetologist. If it weren’t for the toy room, I don’t think my kids would have a Christmas.” 

The Peterborough Masons, Peterborough Lions Club and Peterborough Rotary Club partner with the Sunshine Fund and CAPHR to sponsor the program. 

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The holiday gift tags program, where residents pick tags with requests from local families, was founded by Jim Grant, a longtime Peterborough firefighter. Grant co-founded the Peterborough Sunshine Fund in 2009 to provide emergency assistance to Peterborough residents struggling with urgent needs such as medical or dental issues, car repairs or gas money to attend appointments. 

While holiday tags have been picked up for this year, donations to the Sunshine Fund are always welcome. To donate or for information, go to sunshinefundnh.org