For nearly a decade, Joe Gallart’s mission during the holiday season has been clear: To ensure that no child goes without a gift to unwrap.
What began in 2016 as a simple toy collection has grown into a massive, annual tradition that touches the lives of countless children in need, fueled by Gallart’s compassion, and a community of friends, families, and businesses that believe in his vision.
Because of his unwavering dedication to bringing joy to the children of Nassau County and beyond during the holidays, Gallart is the Merrick Herald’s 2024 Person of the Year.
His passion for collecting toys began humbly in 2016, when he attended a car meet in Glen Cove with some friends, he said. The event was supporting a holiday toy drive for children in need.
“I rounded up a few toys, 21 in total, from you know, just some close friends and family,” he said. “And when I got down there, I really saw (the amount of donations from people attending) and it was unbelievable.”
The following year — Gallart, remembering how much he enjoyed collecting and orchestrating his toy donations — decided to do it again. In 2017, he ended up with around 150 toys, he said, and from there, his efforts have grown annually.
Originally from Queens, Gallart, 59, is a retired New York City sanitation worker, who has called Merrick home since 2008. His residence has transformed into a hub of generosity — a place where friends, family, and community members can drop off toys or send packages to support his cause throughout the year. Local businesses in neighboring towns like Bellmore and East Meadow, and beyond, have joined the effort by setting up public facing donation bins for toys in their lobbies.
Most of Gallart’s donations are given to Toys for Tots, a program founded by the United States Marine Corps Reserve in 1947, which collects new, unwrapped toys, and distributes them to those less fortunate during the holiday season. Additional donations are distributed to smaller organizations throughout Nassau County.
Every year, on the first Sunday in December, Gallart participates in Long Island’s main Toys for Tots drop-off event. For years, donations were delivered to the organization at the Nassau Coliseum. In 2024, the location shifted to the Nassau County Police Department’s David S. Mack Center for Training and Intelligence, continuing the tradition of giving in a new setting.
During this year’s drop-off on Dec. 1, Gina Bennicasa, Gallart’s wife, said over 50 of their friends and family members helped transport the toys.
“He puts so much heart and soul into this — I was so blown away and impressed with the coordination that he had with this huge group,” she said. “He works tirelessly. He’s so passionate about it.”
Diane Arciero, Gallart and Bennicasa’s longtime friend, said that Gallart’s drive is reflective of the type of person he is, and it's easy to understand why he’s supported by so many people.
“When you grow up, your parents tell you to judge the person by the company they keep — I have never met anybody with as many friends as Joe,” Arciero said. “When Joe loves you, you have all of him. He is generous with his time, and he is generous with his heart.”
While Gallart’s passion for giving has never wavered, 2023 marked a meaningful change. That year, he decided to continue his mission with the same purpose and dedication but under a new name — Desirae’s Darlings — in memory of his daughter, Desirae Gallart.
Desirae, who died in 2010 at the age of 24, grew up in Queens, but always loved visiting Gallart’s home in Merrick.
“In 2022, we delivered 5,000 toys,” Gallart said. “I decided, you know what? I’m going to form this charitable organization, in my daughter’s name and memory, and going forward we’ll collect toys each year, and we’ll do it for Desirae’s Darlings.”
As of last year, Desirae’s Darlings is a registered nonprofit organization, operating under a simple motto: “Lighting up Children’s Lives, One Toy at a Time.”
Bennicasa said Desirae would be tremendously proud of her father for what the charity does in her memory. “They had such a beautiful relationship,” she said. “She was a beautiful, beautiful person. She would be so psyched. I know she’s looking down on him.”
Gallart's drive, Arciero said, is motivated by the love he has for Desirae. “He’s able to channel his sadness into something beautiful to help other people,” she said. “She is the angel that is guiding us.”
Since the inception of Desirae’s Darlings, Gallart’s dedication to giving back has only grown stronger.
“The business model and the workflow hasn’t really changed,” he said. “The marketing has changed, because now I’m actually doing it in my daughter’s memory. So, I think that helps, especially people that knew her, or for the people that didn’t know her. It makes it a little more personal, and it hits closer to home for a lot of people.”
Gallart makes giving back easy and accessible through a variety of events and initiatives. On set days in the summer and the fall, he fires up a brick oven at his home to make pizzas, inviting people to order a pie and drop off donations. This year, he hosted a charity comedy night at the Brokerage Comedy Club in Bellmore, providing another opportunity for the community to contribute money — and, of course, toys — to his cause.
Gallart’s nonprofit’s website, DesiraesDarlings.org, offers several convenient ways to donate. Visitors can make credit card or Venmo donations, or shop from an Amazon registry to have toys and gifts delivered directly to Gallart’s home. For those looking to support a local business, Fun Stuff Toys in Seaford partners with Gallart each year, providing another avenue for community members to contribute.
In 2023, Gallart collected a record-breaking 6,600 toys — though, as he likes to say, there’s always room for one more. That milestone was surpassed in 2024, with over 9,300 donations pouring in.
The number of toys increases every year, Arciero said, but so does the number of people who get to know Gallart and directly support his cause.
“He not only collects toys, he collects people,” she said. “He collects people because a friend tells a friend, and then they’re in. It is very rare that people don’t contribute the following year — and they usually contribute more.”
From people in their immediate life, to even people like Gallart’s dentist, who set up a donation bin at his office this year, everyone who meets him feels his passion.
“Joe is just an incredible person — an incredible soul,” Bennicasa said. “People recognize that, and they feel it. I am so thrilled he’s the Person of the Year, because to me, he’s Person of the Year every year, doing this.”