![Real Life Santa Gives Presents to Kids Affected by Hurricane Sandy](http://townsquare.media/site/341/files/2012/12/Santa.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Real Life Santa Gives Presents to Kids Affected by Hurricane Sandy
Santa Claus is getting a jump on his rounds this year, thanks to Michael Sciaraffo.
Sciaraffo is a 31-year-old political consultant who has been getting dressed as jolly Saint Nick for the last few weeks in New York City to hand out presents to children whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.
Sciaraffo, who calls his undertaking his ‘Secret Sandy Claus Project,’ says it has taken on a life of its own, noting, "Between the requests coming in for personal visits as well as the influx of donations, it's been a full-time job. And kudos to Santa, because I don't know how he pulls it off every year.”
Sciaraffo, whose idea started from a charity he was involved with after Sandy struck, may be acting like Kris Kringle, but he doesn’t have the whole North Pole at his disposal to spread out all the gifts.
In fact, his small apartment is busting at the seams with boxes of toys. He said, "The goal was to match up each child with a toy that they liked or asked Santa for for Christmas. We basically tried to pair them up with toys I had in stock."
Word of Sciaraffo’s work has spread quicker than Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve, with other people donating through his Facebook page.
Sciaraffo hopes to deliver presents to 1,000 kids in the days leading up to Christmas, which means he will have earned himself almost as much well-deserved time off as the real Santa.
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