ARKANSAS, USA — The Christmas holiday is a little less than a month away, but one Arkansas man hasn't wasted any time loading up the sleigh and making deliveries.
"Eight years ago, God woke me up, like I said, at three o'clock in the morning and gave me the vision," Eric Lamb said.
It's a vision that he still has today.
"A lot of these kids need, you know, that support and even a guardian angel to let them know that they are loved," Lamb said.
And he has his very own version of Santa's workshop— after all, he does refer to himself as "the Real Santa."
Many people know him as "the Black Santa", but this year, he wanted to do something different.
This year at least 15,000 Christmas gifts were bought and will be hand delivered by Lamb himself.
Starting on Thursday, he'll be making rounds across different states in his van.
Unlike Santa's sleigh, Lamb can't rely on reindeer to get him from one house to another— and with fuel prices higher now than in recent years, he's asking for a little help.
"The vehicle I got now is diesel, so diesel is way higher," Lamb explained. "Every year, out of my own pocket, I spend between $3,500 to $4,000 just on gas."
He's asking for donations of gas money as he travels to make deliveries to kids.
Aside from traditional gifts, he added snacks to the application, because he said that when school is out, kids don't eat.
As "the Real Santa" makes his finishing touches and checks his list twice, he has only one request for you.
"Look out for your neighbor, look out for Kenya if you know it, this is this thing is not given back be a blessing to somebody," Lamb said.
In all, he estimated that he's spent more than $30,000 out of his own pockets on gifts.
You can donate by going to his website here.