By day, Randy Smith is a one-man outreach team, hunting down food, clothing and supplies for more than 100 people living in a Gainesville homeless encampment.

By night, he’s behind the wheel of a forklift, working the graveyard shift to pay the bills and fund his mission.

To many, he’s “Santa Randy” — a nickname he earned thanks to his long white beard, jolly smile, and years of playing Kriss Kringle at parades and parties.

But for 55-year-old Smith, serving poor people is far more than a seasonal gig.

“We are serving the homeless,” he said. “We are just the feet and hands of God.”

Smith and his wife, Melanie, first started handing out food and clothing to homeless people in Atlanta, Athens and Covington in 2019. Many of those efforts were bankrolled by Smith’s side job playing Santa.

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