ALTOONA, Iowa — These days, kids sitting on Santa's lap seems like a distant memory. And often, an in person visit involves a plexiglass divider. Suffice it to say, visits with Santa just aren't what they used to be.
Retired Altoona pastor, and part-time Santa, Jeff Hanna has seen this first-hand this year. "For the most part people weren't interested in hiring a Santa live," he said.
So, he's adapting. He's taken visits with Santa virtual.
"I thought about. Do we chuck the whole idea? I thought , 'We've been zooming; everyone's zooming. So, we could do Santa zooms,'" he said.
Hanna hosts 15-minute sessions with kids not only here in Iowa, but with a few as far away as Kansas and Ohio.
"The kids just get so excited, and their smiles are so big. It's worth anything just to see how happy they are," said Nancy Hanna, who helps her husband make sure the visits go as planned.
The visits are usually done one-on-one. He sings with the kids, tells jokes, and, of course, takes their Christmas present requests. And Hanna doesn't exactly charge anything. He just asks parents to make a $10 donation to benefit the Caring Hands Outreach charity in Altoona.
Hanna calls himself the "Claus with a Cause." So far, he has raised about $300 for the organization, but he is hoping to raise more by booking more sessions. And he's already planning on reprising his role next year and finding another organization to help.