Pitmaster Santa

The Pitmaster Santa Toy Drive is an annual event held by Rasheed Philips, owner and operator of Philips Barbecue Co. Every year, he and Pontoon Brewing put on an event with one objective in mind — collecting toys for the children of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA). CHOA, a not-for-profit children healthcare system, is one of the largest systems of it’s type.

Each year, Rasheed clears his calendar to run this event. Using his “what little celebrity” he has to drum up awareness for this cause, bringing in many toy donations from all over the country.

Rasheed, who had just stepped off a plane from New York City only a few hours earlier, arrived with a truck full of toys. These were donations which had already been received from generous people all over the country as a results of Rasheed’s call to action. Soon after his arrival, he stepped away to the restroom only to re-emerged donning his Pitmaster Santa outfit, a brightly-colored, Christmas-decorated suit. He quickly sprung in to action, collecting toys and serving up the main dish, barbecue gumbo.

As the evening continued on, everyone was treated to good food and Christmas cheer. From watching a young boy show his moves on the dance floor, an homage to Sheed’s performance at the previous year’s event, to a touching moment of him gifting a Philip’s Barbecue apron, Rasheed was fully invested in spreading the Christmas joy. At one point, the REAL Santa even came in to join in the fun — poking fun at Rasheed’s suit only to give him a dollar and a picture of the two at his very own Christmas display. Afterwards, Ol’ Saint Nicholas went back to the North Pole — with a little some gumbo , of course.

The crowd thinned out towards closing time, everyone leaving with a little more cheer and a full stomach. Rasheed, however, left with a pile of toys, all donated to the children of CHOA who had a little something extra to smile about this holiday season.

Pitmaster Santa Recap

Shot and Edited by Correy Overton