Scott Chalkley doesn’t have a beard or a big belly, but every year he gets mistaken for Santa, even though they look nothing alike. The North Carolina man always gets calls this time of year from kids telling him what they want for Christmas because his phone number is only a few digits off from the one Google lists for Santa’s hotline in Georgia.
The 32-year-old says he started to imitate Santa, encouraging boys and girls to stay on the nice list, but now he’s using his Christmas powers to help others. After eight years of getting the calls, Chalkley has partnered with a charity calledThe Merrie Christmas Project.
"What's special about the Merrie Christmas Project is that it helps families in need at a very hard time of the year with gifts and food and Christmas trees," Chalkley explains.
Here's a news story about one Macon family who transformed the death of their daughter Merrie in August, into the Merrie Christmas Project.