For more than 20 years, Peterborough’s Sunshine Fund has collected gifts for Peterborough-area families in need at the holidays.

During December, area businesses, including Brady’s American Grill, Nonie’s, Toadstool Books and Dollar General put up small trees covered with gift tags for members of the public to take shopping. The tags represent children of different ages and genders, as well as gender-neutral gifts such as art supplies and sporting equipment. Donors should return unwrapped gifts to the tree where they took a tag.

The holiday gift tags program was founded by Jim Grant, a longtime Peterborough firefighter who 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. Each year, volunteers from the Peterborough Fire and Ambulance Department collect the gifts donated by the public and deliver them to a storage space, where staff from Southern New Hampshire Services sort and organize the gifts for parents and guardians.

Mandy Sliver, chair of the Sunshine Fund, took over the project after Grant’s death in 2016. Sliver noted that while toys and games are essential for young children, donations of gift cards are in high demand for teenagers.

“We have a lot of teens who need clothes and shoes and outdoor clothes, and they really love those cards from Amazon and Walmart and Target. Every parent knows how hard it is to shop for a teen and how fast they grow,” Sliver said.

Gift cards be dropped off in a locked drop box at the fire station.

Erika Alusic-Bingham of Southern New Hampshire Services, which refers families in need to the gift tag program, said the program “closes the gap” for families who need help in the holidays.

“Last year, we were almost maxed out – we served 191 children,” Alusic-Bingham said. “This program is specifically for those people who need help getting gifts under the tree, for people who just need a little bit more help.”

This year, staff at Brady’s reported that their patrons have been so generous that all the tags were gone from the tree by the first week in December, and Sunshine Fund volunteers had to create new tags to restock the tree. The deadline for donors to return gifts to the trees is Dec. 18. During Christmas week, parents and guardians who have been referred to the program come the storage room and “shop” for gifts for their children.

“Family games are one of the best gifts. Kids love to play games with their parents or grandparents or older brothers and sisters; it brings the whole family together,” Sliver said.

Sliver has helped sort gifts and assisted parents who come to shop for years.

“People are very grateful. It’s very hard to hear their stories. So many people say ‘I’m usually the one donating the gifts.’ At least 12 people last year said to me, ‘It feels very strange to be the one needing help; I’m usually the one helping.’ So many people me they have donated to the gift tags over the years, so many people say they never thought they would be in the one in this situation,” Sliver said.

Sliver said the Sunshine Fund is a year-round nonprofit for people who need financial assistance that another town department or program can’t cover.

“It’s a smaller, flexible fund for families who need help with something specific and important,” Sliver said. “A good example is dentures. Medicaid won’t cover dentures because they’re not considered medically necessary.”

Both Sliver and Alusic-Bingham said the families they work with struggle with the stigma of needing help.

“There is a huge misconception that there are a lot of people who just take help all the time, but that’s not the case. So many of these families are not used having to ask for help, but the rising costs have just hit so many people so hard,” Sliver said. “This program is a stopgap; it’s for people who just need some help to give their child a holiday.”

Alusic-Bingham encourages residents who need help in winter months to reach for fuel assistance in particular.

“The income threshold is higher than people think,” she said.

Area residents can seek help through Southern New Hampshire Services at snhs.org, The River Center at rivercenternh.org, The Grapevine at grapevinenh.org, town welfare officers and other local agencies.