Local legend: Houstonโs Pancho Claus is coming to town in his zoot suit and lowrider
Sure, Santa is great, but have you met his cousin, or primo, Pancho Claus? Heโs a zoot-suit-wearing, lowrider-driving Houstonian who has been passing out presents in the East End since the 1980s. Pancho Claus is a local legend in the Houston community who has even gained national attention, but this year he needs your help.
Who is Pancho Claus? This is the history of the Houston-area Santa with a lowrider
Pancho Claus is a rich tradition of giving that spreads throughout the Lone Star state. Pancho Claus is known as Santa Clausโ cousin from the South Pole. Richard Reyes, also known as Houstonโs Pancho Claus, has dressed up in a zoot suit and made appearances in his low rider sleigh for Christmas for more than 40 years.
Pancho Claus needs help: โLast year, we had like $20K. This year we donโt even have $2Kโ
It was a Santa's workshop Saturday -- with a twist. Instead of jolly ol' Saint Nick, Houston's own Pancho Claus and his volunteers were hard at work trying to make local kids' dreams come true, but they desperately need help from the community.
Meet Pancho Claus: Hereโs what to know to meet the local Christmas icon, help less-fortunate kids in Fort Bend County
Pancho Claus riding in a car to deliver presents to kids in east Houston. ROSENBERG, Texas โ Houstonโs beloved Latino Santa is coming to Fort Bend County this year with a toy drive for less-fortunate children. The League of United Latin American Citizens (Lulac) Chapter 2911 Fort Bend, whose mission is to unite Hispanics and empower residents in the community, will be hosting the toy drive on Saturday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Rosenberg. The organization said in a release that Fort Bend County โsees a despair needโ of toy donations, hoping the community can rise up to help children who may be without a Christmas toy this season. Saturdayโs toy drive will run from noon to 3 p.m., with Pancho Claus making an appearance from 1 p.m. -2:30 p.m.Last month, Pancho Claus, whose real name is Richard Reyes, created a GoFundMe page to collect donations to purchase toys for children.
Pancho Claus asks for communityโs help spreading Christmas cheer
Richard Reyes or Pancho Claus as he affectionately knows is asking for the communities help in spreading some much needed holiday cheer. โWe donโt have no sponsors cause they arenโt doing that well, you canโt blame them at all,โ Reyes said. Weโve already started getting more calls than weโve ever had,โsaid Reyes. That challenge has forced Reyes to started a GoFundMe with a $20,000 goal to help purchase the gifts he will need. โWe need to raise resources to be able to go out and purchase them ourselves,โ said Reyes.