Meet Joe McGee

We were lucky to catch up with Joe McGee recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Joe, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

Life happens and often without your permission. The road to becoming a professional Santa and director of The Santa David Children’s Fund was a long and winding one. My half-brother, David Fordham, and I were born in a small cotton mill town in middle Georgia. Being five and a half years older than me his journey was somewhat different than mine, and as I reflect on it, he made sure it was. You see, he started working when he was only 10 years old by mowing lawns around our town in the summer, and bagging groceries at a local mom-and-pop grocery store in the winters. His efforts were to help our single parent mom feed and clothe us. He bought our first bedroom suite when he was only 11 years old. My first bicycle, a Western Auto Red Flyer, was the fruit of his labors.
Needless to say, David and I were as close as any two brothers have ever been. Though he was the hardest working human I have ever met, his younger years were wrought with illness, yellow jaundice, rheumatic fever, and a heart murmur rendered him sidelined when it came to organized sports. Though he was blessed with athletic ability the doctors would not allow him to play. On the other hand, I was born with natural athletic ability and he helped hone my skills in the backyard by throwing blazing fast balls when he was 14 and I had to catch them as and 8 year old or suffer the consequences. As we grew he recognized my talent and he began coaching my teams, and his dedication to my development turned into a baseball scholarship.
After my college years, David worked at Eastern Airlines for 16 years and I had landed a job with a manufacturing company. In 1988 I decided to go out on my own and start a small business servicing the lumber manufacturing industries. David joined me in the spring of 1989, his personality and quick wit were a perfect fit for this industry. He was wise beyond his years and he lived his life like an open book. This endeared him to so many and was a major part of making our business a success.
In 2007, David’s daughter had twin girls and they were very premature. Weighing only 2 lbs. and 2lbs. 4oz. they were in the hospital for months and David made the trip to Atlanta to see them as often as possible. As late summer turned to fall he started wearing a red Santa hat to visit them. We both were able to grow a decent beard and his was white, so naturally people started calling him Santa. The next year he decided to attend the world class Santa school, the C.W. Howard Santa School in Midland, Michigan. When he returned, he was as happy as I have ever seen him. He told me, “the joy you get to see in the children’s eyes as they look at you is heart melting”. For three years he portrayed Santa to our customers’ children across Georgia, Northern Florida, and other local businesses and non-profits.
The fall of 2010 was a time of turmoil and trepidation. I was having a surgery for a pulled bicep tendon two days before he was scheduled for an operation to relieve his problems with diverticulitis. He was familiar with surgery, prostate cancer, 5 hernia surgeries, a hip replacement, a heart stent, shoulder surgery, two rods in his back from all the years handling luggage. He went in with high hopes of pain relief. Unfortunately, things did not go well. The intestinal surgery would not heal due to all the hernia operations. He was operated on three times trying to get his intestines to heal. Being his medical power of attorney, I was with him everyday for 90 days in intensive care. He was in an induced coma for weeks and the day after Thanksgiving he was able to come out of the coma, surprising all of his doctors and nurses. We were able to communicate with him again. We had hope, but at 59 years old on December 19, 2010, he passed away, his heart just couldn’t take anymore. We were of course devastated. He had fought so hard.
After his passing I had inherited David’s suits, but it was his thing, and I didn’t have the heart to don the red suit. I did however start a scholarship fund in his honor and it was donated to the winner of an essay contest judged by David’s two daughters. We were able to donate four thousand dollars over the first two years after his passing. Things were soon to change.
David and I had worked together for 22 years. My gyroscope had been knocked off kilter after his death. Then in 2012, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and I had a decision to make. Business-wise surgery would have been the quickest treatment option to be able to get back to business. When discussing with the surgeon the possible complications of the surgery he mentioned that the robotic arms could possibly stick to the intestines and cause a kink, and we would have to go in and repair it. Talk about a “god-shot”. I decided to delve into researching alternative treatments. Fortunately I had found the “smart bomb” of radiation–Proton Therapy: a radiation beam that is shaped to the tumor and deposits its energy in the tumor without passing through the rest of your body. While it was great news for me, I didn’t realize what that meant for children’s cancer until I went to the Proton Center.
We moved to Jacksonville, Florida for two months as I began treatment at UFHPTI (University of Florida Health and Proton Therapy Institute). I walked into the Institute and was descending the atrium stairs when I spotted several kids playing with toys and painting with the artist in residence there. I looked at a little bald girl and my eyes welled up with tears. It was then that David’s legacy tapped me on the shoulder and prodded me to take his suits and try and raise funds for the children and their families. Many of the children were from the UK, Australia, and all over the Unites States. It is a revolutionary treatment in the lives of children treating their brain and many other pediatric cancers.
Often, I felt I would be stealing David’s thunder by taking up the Santa mantel. Now I know it will only make his thunder better known. The Santa David Children’s Fund has raised almost $500,000 over the past 11 years and David was right. It is the eyes of these little ones that is the heart of being Santa. When you have a bald little girl sitting on your lap and she looks in your eyes, and you can see her seeing the North Pole, it is the most humbling feeling I have ever had.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

In 2013 I became a professional Santa and started a non-profit to raise funds to help fight pediatric cancer. It was the result of a 3-year journey. My brother and I were very close due to our meager beginnings and life’s journey. We were business partners for 22 years and he became a Santa when his premature granddaughters were born in 2007. He attended CW Howard Santa School in Midland Michigan, in 2008. Unfortunately He passed in 2010. I inherited his Santa suits, but wasn’t inclined to portray Santa because it was his thing. A year and a half later I was diagnosed with cancer and traveled to UFHPTI in Jacksonville, Florida for treatment. When I saw the children being treated there, I was so affected by them that I decided to don the red suit and start a charity in David’s honor. The Santa David Children’s Fund was born, and I began raising funds for the children’s program there and also for the hospital in our area, CHOA (Children’s Health Care of Atlanta). My passion for the charity is because of the relationship David and I had, but also for the children. It is the most humbling thing I have ever done. When you have a bald headed child sit in your lap and look at you, and you can see them seeing the North Pole when they look in your eyes. You can’t help but want to bring that kind of joy to as many of them as you can. Then, when I learned the funds that we raise go directly to hiring a child life specialist who trains the children to lie still for the short time it takes for their radiation treatment. This is so they don’t have to be put to sleep for 38 days in a row! This made me feel a part of something that is so much larger than myrself. Our goal this year is to raise $100,000. I spend about 250 hours in November and December with appearances and fund raisers. We have been blessed with so many in the community getting behind our efforts. One of the keys has been that we donate 100% of the funds raised to the cause. The expenses are paid by my personal and business donations.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

As a former athlete I developed the mindset of “Never give up” and I have often said, “The fear of failure is sometimes a bigger motivator than the thrill of victory”. Another quality is the ability to confront your fears. Fear of failure, fear of what others may think, and fear of putting yourself “out there”. The sooner you can abate those fears, the sooner you will be able to attain your goals. So be fearless, but don’t mistake it for arrogance. Arrogance will close doors it took years to open. Deal with people honestly and be genuine. Now as far as Santa goes, you have to love kids. I have had ways to entertain kids since I was a teenager, developing “Donald Duck” voices and animal sounds. You never know what might break through to them. Finding common ground that will open them up is key. After 11 years of wearing the red suit you develop your version of the North Pole and can answer almost any question a child might have.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

The local community has been great in their fundraising events, but I would like to expand the reach to even bigger events that bring more funding to the cause. I am always looking for memorabilia that we could use in auctions from celebrities and professional athletes. tickets, gift cards, travel, or anything that would grow the cause. My dream would be to have a place I could build Santa’s toy shop and have a magical elevator with with a video surround taking the family on a trip, a fantasy North Pole ride. When it arrives at the North Pole it lets the family out in a Santa throne room where the children can express their wishes and get the photos that parents want. This is something that could go on a long time after I am gone.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.therealdealsanta.com
• Facebook: Santa Joe
• Other: Tiktok 1realdealsanta