The Real-Life Santa

80-year-old Army Vet is a Real-Life Santa

For 80-year-old Army veteran, Jim Annis, Christmas is about giving. He has helped Santa out every holiday season for the past 50 years by creating wooden toys.

He spends most of his days carving, sculpting and sanding blocks of wood into toys.

Annis gives his toys to Salvation Army of Sanford

According to Annis, when the Salvation Army gives out food and clothes to people in this area, he gives his toys.

Annis donated nearly 300 toys to the Salvation Army of Sanford. The wooden scraps were from his neighbors, and everything else comes from his own money. He spends about $1000 in making wooden toys. 

He enjoys giving his created wooden toys to kids

Annis makes small and large cars, dolls, piggy banks, tractors, and firetrucks. He's been doing this for 50 years and hopes to keep this tradition going another 50 years.

He remembers waking up to Christmas with no gifts to open since there are five kids in their family, and he didn't want other kids to experience that too. 

He only cares about the smiles his wooden toys for Christmas bring to the faces of needy kids

"I love when people ask me how much do I get paid for making these toys. I tell them my pay is when I see the smile on kids' faces," said Annis. "I hope to be able to do this until my toes curl up."

“What seems to be generosity is often no more than disguised ambition, which overlooks a small interest in order to secure a great one.”

-    Francois de La Rochefoucauld