Thank you.

To those who have already donated to the Suffolk News-Herald’s Cheer Fund, please know that your generosity has not gone unnoticed. We appreciate the thoughtfulness of so many who have contributed to the fund that helps make Suffolk’s Toys for Tots program a success each year.

The exact numbers are not yet in, but we know that thousands of Suffolk families were able to put toys under their Christmas trees because of kindhearted people like you.

The Cheer Fund was started by the Suffolk News-Herald during the Great Depression to raise money for families in need. It initially focused on clothes and shoes but eventually turned to collecting toys for children.

The newspaper staff handles publicity and bookkeeping for the fund, and a volunteer independent board manages it, allowing all donations — save for a required $50 annual fee to the State Corporation Commission — to go toward toys.

The Cheer Fund partners with Toys for Tots to purchase toys.

The money that has been raised this year — and will continue to be raised through the end of January — will go toward the purchase of toys for next year’s distribution. This year’s goal is $40,000, and we’ve raised nearly $28,000 so far, so it’s clear that we still have some work to do.

If you haven’t donated yet, we need your help to make that goal, and we’re confident that the generous people of Suffolk will help us reach it.

Cheer Fund donations are accepted all year long. They are printed in the Suffolk News-Herald and can be made in honor of or in memory of a loved one. The donor can be listed anonymously if he chooses. The donor can also have his photograph taken giving the check to be published in the newspaper. To give, write a check payable to the Cheer Fund and mail it to P.O. Box 1220, Suffolk, VA 23439, or stop by our office Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Once again, thank you for your help with this worthy cause.