Macho Clause and Friends drop by for kids at Christmas

(Maria Dupius, December 24, 2022)

Rochester Hills, MI – For 492 local kids this year, Macho Clause came to town.

Macho Clause, a character who is part Santa and part American professional wrestler “Macho Man” Randy Savage, delivers presents to children in a sequin robe and red Santa hat with animal-print fur. Those familiar with old school wrestling will recognize the familiar “Ooooh Yeah” replacing Santa’s traditional “ho ho ho”.

David Chisholm’s journey to becoming Macho Clause began four years ago at Christmas time.

Chisholm said he would do something to help a local family every Christmas, and that year he was shopping for a kid who asked for Fortnite characters. Not knowing what to buy, he posted a message on Facebook asking parents which characters their children liked best.

Soon he was receiving message after message from parents asking if he needed money to buy the gifts or if he knew another family they could help support.

“I just thought, well, the universe is beating on my brain and saying, ‘Do something,'” Chisholm said. “So instead of being a middle-aged white guy and saying, ‘Let’s go Christmas shopping,’ I thought, let me come up with something that people can rally behind.”

An avid wrestling fan, Chisholm decided to become Macho Clause in honor of one of his favorite wrestlers, Macho Man Randy Savage.

Chisholm soon became acquainted with Lori MacFarlane, now known as Mac Claus, who works with local agencies such as Secondhand Rose, Goodfellows, Turning Point, Mount Clemens Foster Closet and word of mouth to find families and children in need of a little extra help have for Christmas.

Community members quickly rallied around the case, forming a “small army” that Chisholm calls “The Macho Corps.” The group is entirely volunteer-based and uses financial donations and their own money to buy and wrap gifts for children directly from their wish list.

“We’ll just keep going until our money runs out or Christmas hits,” Chisholm said. There are children in Oakland and Macomb counties.

During the early years of Macho Clause, teams of drivers delivered all gifts to families on Christmas Eve.

Because there was such an increase in families last year, the Rusty Nail Bar in Clinton Township became a pick-up location the week leading up to Christmas.

Chisholm said one of the most important things about Macho Clause is making sure those who receive the gifts know how loved and valued they are.

“One of my catchphrases is, ‘Know that you are loved,'” Chisholm said.

“That’s the last thing my mom said to us before she died, so I use that as inspiration…I want families, especially children, to know they are loved.”

He said being Macho Clause has given him the opportunity to show kids that they are real people who care about Christmas and make it magical.

“The thing is, if you’re a kid and you believe in Santa Claus, you grow up and you find out that Santa Claus doesn’t exist, and that can be heartbreaking,” Chisholm said. “I want people to know that I’m a real guy. And I care. And there are 20 other people wrapping presents who care. And there are 100 other people who care that they went shopping or sent money. And there are 1,000 other people who care that this keeps happening.”

As the organization has continued to grow over the years, Chisholm said he is preparing paperwork in hopes of turning it into a nonprofit by next holiday season.

Note: Oakland County Times found Macho Clause when Chisholm had written an unrelated post about the Christmas lights in Innovation Hills. His inspiring words led to this Explore post: