Believe it or not, a man from North Carolina has been spending countless hours and his own funds to bring happiness to children in need for the last 50 years. After the public has learned about his story, many started calling him Real Life Santa.
But, this time, he’s getting some assistance from his elves. The 80-year-old Jim Annis who lives in Sanford in Lee County makes wooden toys and sends them to the Salvation Army of Sanford.
For this Christmas, he made 300 toys for the children in his community.
Amazing 80-Year Old Man Is the Real Life Santa
The energetic Annis claims that when the Salvation Army is giving out food and clothes to people from the area, he gives out his toys made with so much love.
When other people heard about him, they wanted to help him in his toy story.
People from California to Texas donated supplies, money, and even 500 wooden wheels to help him in his annual endeavor.
He is beyond thankful to everyone for their generosity. He never dreamed people would even hear about him. He claims he gets paid when he sees the smile on the children’s faces.
How Does the Toy Shop Work?
Annis pays himself for the accessories, paint, and machinery. The wooden pieces are from neighbors and scraps from construction sites.
He notes that he spends around $1000 and numerous hours in the toy factory creating cars, dolls, fire trucks, and piggy banks.
He claims he has memories of waking up on Christmas morning with no presents under the tree when he was young.
Even though his father worked, they didn’t have a lot of money so that each of the five children can get a gift.
Today, this war veteran spends hours and hours before Christmas season to make sure Sanford children can get at least one gift from his shop.
He explains that it’s really amazing what you can do with wood. Thanks to the donations by his ‘elves’, he’s already ahead of the schedule and even started the gift batch for next year!
Wow!
Sources: