A man whose name became synonymous with kids and toys in the Rochester area has died.
Gary Smith was his real name, but the local children’s entertainer was best known for dressing as a pirate and helping give toys to sick kids, an effort that expanded to thousands of children around the region.
Smith started the Pirate Toy Fund in 1995 at Golisano Children’s Hospital after getting to know a little girl there. Seven-year-old Christie Simonetti was being treated for childhood leukemia, and during one of the concerts Gary the Happy Pirate was performing at Golisano, he noticed Christie giving away the toys that had been given to her by family members.
She told Smith, “Every child deserves a toy.”
Otto Harnischfeger, the current executive director of the toy fund, said that Smith was touched by that, and with Christie’s parents, Lorrie and Dave Simonetti, the three of them founded the charity.
“I think the first year they started the Toy Fund, they gave out about (300) to 400 toys,” Harnischfeger said. “And last year, we gave out over 41,000. And we hit our half a million toy milestone.”
The toys are now distributed to every hospital in the Rochester area, and some police agencies keep the toys in the trunk of their cruisers to give out to children facing a crisis situation.
Smith died Friday at the age of 64 after complications of a neurological disease, but Harnischfeger said his legacy will live on.
“The guy had a big heart, he always wanted to make children smile, he always wanted to bring joy to them, and by him and the Simonettis creating the Pirate Toy Fund, we accomplished that,” Harnischfeger said.
Harnischfeger said that with the help of the community, the Pirate Toy Fund will continue and this fall’s toy drive will be dedicated in Smith’s memory.
