Fourteen firefighters, followed by two large cargo vans and a suburban filled with toys, visited three New York City hospitals this December to spread holiday cheer.

Members of Engine 7, Ladder 1 and Battalion 1 brought toys to children at the New York Foundling Hospital and St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan, as well as King County Hospital Center in Brooklyn.

“It was a good day, you have a good feeling afterwards,” retired Firefighter Steven Olsen of Ladder 1 said on Dec. 22, after a toy delivery. “There’s a lot of need out there.”

Firefighter Olsen helped start the annual toy drive in 1988, collecting toys for kids at Beekman Downtown Hospital in Manhattan.

As he continued to coordinate the effort over the last 20 years, the effort expanded, especially after the terror attacks of 2001.

“The whole world helped us out then,” Firefighter Olsen said. “We felt compelled to help more people, to help as many as we could.”

The firehouse collects toys from visitors throughout the year and stores them for the holiday season.

Firefighter Olsen also writes to toy companies, asking for donations. They have received contributions from companies like Nike, VTech and Capital Audio in past years, and this year they received a pallet full of Barbie dolls from Mattel.

When they arrive at the hospitals, the burly firefighters surprise some of the kids.

“We don’t look like little elves coming in - we’re big guys,” joked Firefighter Olsen.

He said Santa sat and spoke with each child and “lit up a lot of faces. The kids were just ecstatic.”

Yet the firefighters did not just deliver toys to the hospitals this year, they also donated a check to a family overwhelmed by medical bills, as well as one to the early childhood program at St. Vincent’s.

“It wasn’t a lot, but it was something,” Firefighter Olsen said of the two several-hundred dollar checks gathered through donations from firefighters at his former company.

Firefighter Olsen, who retired in October, said in the next few weeks he will start writing letters to toy companies asking for next year’s donations.

“It’s an ongoing process,” he said. “I’m retired now, so I can do a lot more.”