It was a modern Christmas miracle — fueled by the power of the Internet.

When an annual program providing Christmas gifts to low-income families ran out of toys earlier this week, employee Rus Fudakov took to Facebook with a desperate plea.

"It is in great need that I turn to you all at this time," Fudakov wrote on his profile page late Wednesday night.

The response overwhelmed him.

The Kirkland/Northshore Center of Hopelink, which runs the "Gift Room" program — meant to help poor families enjoy the holiday season — received some $12,000 in donated toys and gift cards Thursday. That allowed Hopelink to give gifts to all 208 households that came in that day, serving a total of 402 children.

"It was just phenomenal. The whole community came together," said Teresa Andrade, the center's manager. "It was just really special."

What was most amazing, Andrade said, is that so many donations arrived in such a short time, seemingly as the result of one Facebook post. The post was more or less the only outreach anybody in the organization made Wednesday night, she said.

The plea, which organizers said was necessary because of a deep economic recession that has decreased donations and increased demand, was quickly picked up by a number of community blogs.

"It really was meant to just be a message to my friends and family, and I guess somebody took it much further," said Fudakov, a 33-year-old food-bank coordinator, who has been with Hopelink for six years. "It spiraled out of control — a snowball that turned into an avalanche.

"It made me exceptionally proud," he added.

In all, 1,078 households benefited from the "Gift Room" program, which ran Monday through Thursday (the center also received $6,000 in donations Friday; those toys will be distributed at future events). That meant enough gifts to give about 2,500 kids a happy holiday.

Brian M. Rosenthal: 206-464-3195 or brosenthal@seattletimes.com. On Twitter @brianmrosenthal.