SOUTH PORTLAND — Last year, Jeff Ham joined the throng of last-minute shoppers in the aisles of Marden’s and Reny’s and Five Below one week before Christmas. He threw Red Sox throw blankets and water tumblers into his cart, but those presents weren’t for his own family.

Ham was on a mission to meet a surge in applications to the Portland Press Herald Toy Fund. Since 1949, the Toy Fund has provided gifts and books to Maine children and teenagers who otherwise might not receive any at the holidays.

In most recent years, the nonprofit has served roughly 3,000 kids. Last year, as more families struggled with the rising costs of housing and food, the Toy Fund provided gifts to nearly 4,000 children — an increase of 46% from 2023.

This year, the organizers are planning for similarly high need.

“I went retail shopping frantically,” said Ham, the nonprofit’s operations manager. “What we tried to do this year was really stock up all the way to serve 4,000 kids.”

Applications for groups and individuals will open Oct. 1 at pressherald.com/toy-fund. The deadline to apply is Nov. 1 for groups and Dec. 1 for individuals.

Last year, many applicants said they were struggling to pay rent and buy groceries. Unexpected events, such as an illness or a family breakup, created new strain on their budgets. Some wrote that they were homeless, living in a shelter or staying with friends.

“Been struggling just getting food on the table,” a mother of four from Androscoggin County wrote on her application last year. “Working 40-plus hour weeks and still can’t get ends to meet. The cost of everything is up but my checks are the same. Rent keeps going up, and this time of the year heating is an added bill I will also have to struggle with.”

A mother of two from Cumberland County simply wrote: “I cannot even buy Christmas dinner let alone gifts.”

Caseworkers from social service agencies can also apply. Last year, one group submitted 105 applications, and seven submitted 60 or more.

Board president Karen Beaudoin said 4,000 kids is the largest number she’s seen in her decade working with the Toy Fund.

“The number started going up in the pandemic,” Beaudoin said. “We’re planning for serving more children than ever before, so it means more buying and increased prices.”

Donations from readers pay for the presents. Last year, the Toy Fund raised more than $190,000 — which meant no one was turned away. The Press Herald publishes lists of the donations along with stories about the holiday gift drive from Thanksgiving through the month of December. (This year, anyone who donates online between Oct. 1 and 15 will be entered to win a four-pack of tickets to a Maine Mariners game.)

On Thursday, the first volunteers unloaded more than a dozen pallets of boxes in what they call their “workshop” at the Press Herald office in South Portland. John Voyer, of Portland, cut one open.

“This is like being at Christmas,” Voyer said as he sliced through the packing tape to find toy robots inside.

Ham checked his list to figure out where the box needed to go.

“Eleven-year-olds,” he said.

The Toy Fund distributes bags of toys for kids up to 16 years old in York, Cumberland, Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Androscoggin and Knox counties. Each contains three age-appropriate gifts and one book. The children who receive the toys and books typically never know about the Toy Fund — or the strangers who donated money or time to the cause.

More than 30 volunteers will help unbox, sort, pack and distribute gifts in the coming weeks. Janet Edmunson, of South Portland, pushed a dolly of boxes through the workshop on Wednesday afternoon. She’s been coming back for years because she knows these families don’t have other options at the holidays.

“Without this, what would they do?” she said.

The best day, Edmunson said, is when people start coming to pick up gifts. Cars and vans will be lined up outside the workshop, where volunteers will meet them, ready to deliver a little joy.

To apply for gifts (starting Oct. 1) or to donate to the Toy Fund, visit pressherald.com/toy-fund.