Belchertown family gives to Sidney F. Toy Fund to honor, thank teachers

Quinn Fisher pens a note to one of his teachers, explaining about the family’s Toy Fund donation.

Quinn Fisher pens a note to one of his teachers, explaining about the family’s Toy Fund donation. CONTRIBUTED/ERICA FISHER

Quinn Fisher pens a note to one of his teachers, explaining about the family’s Toy Fund donation.

Quinn Fisher pens a note to one of his teachers, explaining about the family’s Toy Fund donation. CONTRIBUTED/ERICA FISHER

By EMILEE KLEIN

Staff Writer

Published: 12-18-2024 2:44 PM

BELCHERTOWN — While students shower their elementary school teachers with small tokens of appreciation during the holiday season, those coffee shop gift cards, stationary and trendy tumblers peter out as students get to middle and high school.

But the Fisher family knows that Jabish Brook Middle School and Belchertown High School teachers work just as hard as their Swift River and Chestnut Hill counterparts, and their efforts shouldn’t go unappreciated. Each year, Charlie, now 15, Leo, 13, and Quinn, 9, donate $50 to the Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund to recognize their many teachers and the hours they invest in their education and well-being.

“Teachers do a tremendous amount that people don’t even realize,” said Erica Fisher, the boys’ mother. “Especially at middle school right now, we had a lot of cuts at the middle school last year and I know a lot of those teachers switched roles or stepped in to positions they were unfamiliar with, and they’ve done so pretty seamlessly.”

This year, the Fishers honored all the teachers at the high school and middle school, as well as Quinn’s teachers Mrs. Pereira, Mrs. Bernashe and Mrs. Fletcher. Each son is in charge of writing and coloring cards for their teachers to inform them of the donation made in their honor.

“Because we’re honoring their teachers, I think it’s nice to be providing something to kids, because educators in particular have a strong fondness for kids,” Erica 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 families for each child from age 1 to 14. Eligible families must live in any Hampshire County community except Ware, or in the southern Franklin County towns of Deerfield, Sunderland, Whately, Shutesbury and Leverett, or in Holyoke in Hampden County.

Charlie said that it’s important to honor high school teachers who devote extra hours after school to students and help prepare them for college. Quinn acknowledged the role his teachers play in helping him learn each day.

The Fishers’ yearly donation began six years ago, when Erica came across the Toy Fund online and remembered her mother donating in honor of her and her brother’s teachers in Amherst. She decided to revive the practice into a family holiday tradition.

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“It was hard to have the conversation when they were younger. We’d tell them that we donate to the fund for families that can’t afford as much, and they would say, ‘What do you mean? Santa will bring them everything,’” Erica said. “But as they get older, they’re starting to understand a bit more.”

Erica hopes that as her children come to realize the impact of their donation, they will continue the tradition if they decided to have their own families one day.

The gift, while not tangible, has proved to be much appreciated by Belchertown teachers and staff. One year, a teacher told the family that the donation meant a great deal because they had been a recipient of the Toy Fund as a child.

“This is a way to acknowledge we see you, we appreciate you because certainly, especially middle school kids, aren’t going to tell their teachers all the time,” Erica said. “So as a family we can express our gratitude to them.”

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.