@felix_pHis story started with loss. A Modern Orthodox Jewish man from Georgia lost both parents in the fall of 2011, just two weeks apart. Following Jewish tradition, he stopped shaving, and his beard came in thick and white. He didn’t fight it. A few months later, in a Home Depot, a little boy spotted him, eyes wide, and whispered “Santa.” Rick leaned down and said, “Don’t tell anybody you saw Santa buying tools for the elves.” That quiet exchange changed everything. He leaned into the role completely, and these days he’s Santa Rick, on the job all year. He meets every person with the same gentle respect, whether they’re a child or in their nineties. “Being Santa makes you a better person,” he says. “The world isn’t black and white. It’s full of beautiful colors. My job is simply to help people see them again.” He went further, too, co-founding the Northern Lights Santa Academy to train Santas, Mrs. Clauses, and Elves, teaching that this work is a heartfelt responsibility to bring more warmth into the world

@felix_pHis story started with loss. A Modern Orthodox Jewish man from Georgia lost both parents in the fall of 2011, just two weeks apart. Following Jewish tradition, he stopped shaving, and his beard came in thick and white. He didn’t fight it. A few months later, in a Home Depot, a little boy spotted him, eyes wide, and whispered “Santa.” Rick leaned down and said, “Don’t tell anybody you saw Santa buying tools for the elves.” That quiet exchange changed everything. He leaned into the role completely, and these days he’s Santa Rick, on the job all year. He meets every person with the same gentle respect, whether they’re a child or in their nineties. “Being Santa makes you a better person,” he says. “The world isn’t black and white. It’s full of beautiful colors. My job is simply to help people see them again.” He went further, too, co-founding the Northern Lights Santa Academy to train Santas, Mrs. Clauses, and Elves, teaching that this work is a heartfelt responsibility to bring more warmth into the world