HOUSTON — Santa has a workshop -- and so does Pancho Claus.
"We’ve been doing this 41 years,” Richard Reyes, AKA Pancho Claus, said.
About 75 “elves” spent part of their Sunday making and wrapping dozens of donation boxes.
"They go to bars, restaurants, corporations, family parties, churches, schools, wherever,” Reyes said.
The donations help Reyes fulfill his annual Christmas giveaway that features him in his trademark red zoot suit and a parade of low riders.
The Houston holiday tradition will expand this Christmas thanks to a donation from Academy Sports & Outdoors.
"We’re going to the Rio Grande Valley,” Reyes said.
The team will specifically target settlements known as "colonias" where access to even basic necessities, much less toys, is limited.
"They’re unincorporated areas that have no services such as water, lights, sewer, electricity ... no paved roads," Reyes said. "So there’s a real big need there.”
Houston standup comedian and volunteer Jacinto Maturino got a toy from Pancho Claus when he was a kid. He's among those helping prepare for this season’s even bigger giveaway.
"I honestly can say he’s a pillar of our community and I just can’t wait to help him in any possible way that I can," Maturino said.
It's something Pancho Claus counts on from countless others.
“I’m Richard Reyes, I’m not Pancho Claus," Reyes said. "I created the character, but all of Houston is Pancho Claus.”