A True Christmas Project (O Natal de Verdade) started with one man, a Santa suit, and a bag of candy.
The mid-1990s: Santa on foot
My uncle, Heleno Dória, began walking the shanty towns of Venda Nova, on the north side of Belo Horizonte, dressed as Santa every Christmas morning. He carried candy and popcorn, and he stopped for a photo with every child who ran up to him. For kids whose families could not afford presents, that moment was Christmas.
1997: Santa gets a motorcycle
Word spread street to street, and walking stopped being enough. In 1997 Santa switched to a motorcycle, covering more communities and bringing small gifts along with the sweets. That is the Santa a whole generation of the neighborhood remembers.
2012: the internet joins in
In 2012 I started raising funds online from the United States so we could buy real toys at wholesale, about a thousand or more every year. Since then, friends and family have contributed more than $55,000 across 14 campaigns, and every dollar is accounted for publicly.
Today
The event is a motorcade of more than 30 cars, motorcycles, and a bus, escorted by the Military Police and Belo Horizonte’s Municipal Guard. Volunteers, local Boy Scouts, neighbors, and three generations of our family hand out toys, food baskets, and clothing. And the rule Heleno set on day one still holds: if the toys run out, Santa still stops for every child. A wave, a hug, a photo.