For the first time in many years, the Suffolk News-Herald Cheer Fund met its fundraising goal this season, raising more than $43,000 so far.

Those who have not yet donated still have time to help increase the total even further.

“The Cheer Fund had its most successful year in recent memory,” head elf Margie Wiley said. “We had a record year in raising $43,138, which I think is amazing.”

The Cheer Fund started during the Great Depression as a way to help struggling families. Eventually, it morphed into providing toys for children at Christmas.

This year, about 2,319 children in 1,011 households were helped through the Cheer Fund, which purchases toys through Toys for Tots to be distributed by the Salvation Army to families who have applied for assistance.

“We were really touched by the level of giving that was done this year,” Wiley said. “It seemed as though people were willing to dig a bit deeper this year to give to the Toys for Tots at Christmas.”

It’s not too late to give to the Cheer Fund and be counted in this year’s total.

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 at 130 S. Saratoga St. Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Cheer Fund donations 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.

Online giving is also available. To give using a credit or debit card or your PayPal account, click “Donate Here” at the top of our home page, www.suffolknewsherald.com.