Toys for Joy: Spirit of giving inspires an editor in northeast Pennsylvania

Editor's note: This column was originally published in 2019.

My mom and my mother-in-law have a lot in common. Both are creative, both work hard, and both love to ask all of us around the Thanksgiving table just what it is that we are thankful for.

No matter where we were living, or what our situation was, my mom always made sure we recognized the significance of the Thanksgiving message. Even as I slid into my seat as an angsty teen, she’d make me answer her question: “Just what are you thankful for this year?”

Some years, I’d grumble. Some years, I’d beam at the table and rattle off a year’s worth of good grades, success at work, or some project I was proud of.

But this year, as I host for the first time, my definition of thankful has changed. I’ve seen my family grow around me, as babies are born and siblings grow up. Weddings and engagements, new homes and apartments, new jobs and titles.

I’ve also seen pain, despair and sickness— whether that be in headlines, or in daily life.

I can sit here and write about how wonderful my life is, but that would not do justice to the hundreds of thousands that suffer from homelessness, or the 15 million Americans that face food insecurity everyday.

I grew up in the food insecure category. I’m a product of the post-9/11 recession that hit a lot of kids in the Poconos. My story is not that different from many. But despite the hardships, there were some miracles, too.

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When I was a teenager, my family and I were living in Hazleton. My grandfather, Emilio, was battling cancer and we had relocated to Luzerne County to be close to him. Times were rough, but I remember my parents working themselves to the bone so we could have what we needed. Pennsylvania Access, now known as SNAP, filled in the gaps, and I got free lunch at school. Right after school, I’d either be off to my part-time job or home with my younger brother and sister while my mom and dad were working.

There’s a particular type of stress that comes with being the oldest sibling, not quite old enough to contribute much, but old enough to understand how hard things were getting.

I remember it being just days before Christmas, and our cupboards were pretty thin. Our Christmas tree glowed with ornaments my mother had been collecting for years, and despite knowing that we were struggling, I remember being filled with joy for the season. Spending time with family, maybe watching a Christmas claymation movie or eating treats my grandmother had made for us, are traditions I still hold dear.

I thought more about the meals: Seven fishes for Christmas Eve dinner, Italian style, and Puerto Rican rice and beans, a slow-cooked pork pernil, and maybe plantain leaf-wrapped pasteles for Christmas Day dinner if I was brave enough. Looking back, I can’t even remember wanting gifts, all I could think about was the idea of those two special meals. To this day, I still prioritize the cooking over the gifting. But I remember agonizing over the fact that meals like that would likely cost my parents a good chunk of change. They’d pull it off somehow, I knew, but that didn’t stop me from stressing over it.

But that Christmas of 2004 was a little different.

My mother had come home, just days before the holiday, to find a Christmas card in the mail without a return address. When she opened it, she found cash and gift cards to toy stores and supermarkets.

In the card was a typed note on scrap paper that read “From a friend.”

Years later, we still don’t know where the card came from.

The hope I felt on that Christmas follows me to this day, and I draw strength from that memory every year.

There are many other teens that watch their families struggle with things like food insecurity, let alone being able to provide gifts for Christmas. Your donations to our annual Toys for Joy campaign helps ease the burden for families every Christmas, allowing them to not have to choose between the joy of a holiday meal and even the smallest gift for their children.

On behalf of the Pocono Record and Tri-County Independent, I’d like to thank our community who opens their hearts, and wallets, to help local families year after year. I am thankful for you all, and I am still thankful for my family’s mysterious “friend”, even after all these years.

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How to donate to Toys for Joy

This year, we are expanding our purview to include our sister paper, the Tri-County Independent. The TCI serves readers in Wayne, eastern Lackawanna, and northern Pike counties. Pocono Record serves readers in Monroe and southern Pike counties. Our reporters have been working as a unified team for nearly two years.

Donations must be made online, by check or by money order only. No cash can be accepted. You can include your name and a special message to be published with your donation.

To donate online, go to poconorecord.com/toysforjoy or formstack.io/21E47.

Checks must be made out to AllOne Charities and mailed to 83 East Union St., Wilkes Barre, PA 18701.

Donations so far

Calpin Household: $20 - For Harry and Marion Rose

Jermain Household: $100

Anonymous: $30

Total donations received: $150

— Ashley Fontones is the managing editor at the Pocono Record and Tri-County Independent. Reach her by emailing afontones@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Fontones: Memories of a generous stranger give me hope year after year