A former shopping center Santa Claus is surprised to receive a gift from a Secret Santa
Published at
The EastIdahoNews.com team is busy helping a local man gift $500,000 this holiday season! Secret Santa is a real person who wants to remain anonymous and wants to help as many people as he can.
We will be surprising deserving people and families every day from now until Christmas with gifts unique to their circumstances.
Joe Borg is 76-years-old. The third of six children, he was raised in a log home built by his father in Idaho Falls. For years, Joe has lived in a trailer by himself but is always helping his family.
In 1980, the Post Register published an article about Joe called “Role as Santa Claus fulfills Joe’s Dream.” The year before, Joe had taken a job as a janitor at the Country Club Shopping Center. The following year he was offered the role of Santa. Joe got so much joy from dressing up and being “someone important for a few hours everyday.”
“There’s a little bit of Santa Claus in every one of us,” he said. “I always knew there was a Santa Claus – somewhere in this world. You’re never too old for Christmas.”
Joe’s cognitive impairment and declining health have forced him to give up work and some of the independence he once enjoyed. His mother, who supported him throughout her life, died in 2010. Joe now depends on his three surviving brothers to help him manage his life. Joe is still a simple man who is easy to tease, loves movies and sweets.
He is currently in a rehabilitation center preparing to go back to his home. Secret Santa asked the East Idaho News elves to pay him a visit and bring Joe an early Christmas gift. Watch the video above to see the surprise!
