COCOA, Fla. – Forget going down a chimney -- Santa Claus went door to door Friday in Cocoa.
Larry Sinclair, the Broadmoor Acres neighbor underneath the Santa suit, delivered gifts he had bought to three dozen children.
"Santa needs an air-conditioned suit in Florida," joked Sinclair about the heat.
He bought and wrapped dozens of guitars, drones, dolls and radio-controlled cars. Without his sleigh of goodies going through the crime-troubled Broadmoor Acres area, the holidays wouldn't be as merry, according to city leaders.
"This is redevelopment for our city," said Mayor Henry Parrish, who guided Santa's sleigh Friday from the driver's seat of his pickup truck. "It shows that the city of Cocoa has a Christmas spirit," the mayor added.
News 6 last stopped at Sinclair's home on Thanksgiving when he invited over hundreds of neighbors for a front yard community dinner.
A month later, on the eve of Christmas Eve, he laughed while telling News 6 he had maxed out his credit cards to buy presents for all of the children.
"These kids, they're all good," said Sinclair as he waved to children lining the streets.
He visited all the neighborhood boys and girls on his list in about 90 minutes and said this is the kind of Christmas every child deserves.
Sinclair said in the new year, he plans to do a similar charitable act for Easter.