‘Salvage Santa’ Recycles Toys for the Needy

He’s never been to the North Pole. He’s a bit too slim and much too tall, and his beard is still dark.

Just like his namesake, though, “Salvage Santa” is putting in long hours in his Christmas workshop.

The recycled bicycles, games and toys that retired police detective Mike Jones repairs, paints and polishes aren’t new, but they’re just fine with hundreds of needy girls and boys.

A part-time job and exposure to the dark side of life as a homicide and child abuse investigator for the Panama City Police Department led Jones, 43, to the Salvage Santa program 13 years ago.

“You saw the children and the babies that didn’t have anything, and I’m talking about nothing, for toys. They played with sticks and rocks. It’ll burst your heart,” Jones said.

The manager of a Sears store where he worked part time agreed to give him defective toys after Jones agreed to mark them so they couldn’t be returned. Jones went to work in his wood-and-metal shop beside his home in this Panama City suburb.

The first few years, he got enough toys for about 50 kids. Then the local news media publicized his efforts and dubbed him Salvage Santa.

“People started coming to my house, dropping off bicycles, throwing stuff over the fence,” Jones said. Other stores also contributed toys, and manufacturers sent him free parts.

The Panama City and Springfield police departments gave unclaimed bicycles. Other organizations contributed money to pay for bike parts and to purchase some new toys to go with the old ones.

Now the program distributes gifts, including at least 100 bicycles, to about 900 kids every year in Bay County.