For 44 years, Nick Hawkey of Little Gap has been playing Santa.

He has done it for numerous organizations, including the Lehigh Valley Airport's Polar Express for terminally ill children.Hawkey, 75, found out that even Santa gets cancer.He also proved that neither snow, nor rain, nor dark of night, nor cancer, stops Santa's work.A bout with prostate cancer forced him to have his prostate removed and put him on kidney dialysis for a few days. He is now cancer-free.On Sunday, Hawkey will be honored by the Carbon-Tamaqua Chapter of the American Cancer Society as a "Courage Award" recipient. He's one of four individuals who will be receiving the award during the unit's annual telethon.The telethon begins at noon today and Sunday. The awards will be presented after 7 p.m. Sunday.All his life, Hawkey has had a simple philosophy."I get up in the morning and try to figure out what I can do to make it a better world," he said.He lives by that motto. Besides playing Santa, he's involved with the Marine Corps League and their Toys for Tots program, Dream Come True, two food banks, the Salvation Army, the Palmerton Lions Committee including serving on the Health Fair Committee, and Troop 98 of the Boy Scouts.He's been with Dream Come True for 30 years, becoming active after a granddaughter had gotten ill and was promised a dream, but didn't live long enough to get it fulfilled. She died at the age of 5 1/2 on Christmas Eve in 1986 after undergoing three kidney transplants.On the wall of his living room are all sorts of plaques Hawkey has received for his contributions and generosity.Hawkey is married to the former Millie Myers, a native of Allentown. They will celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary in July.They have two children; a daughter, Karen Steigerwalt of Palmerton, and Dean Hawkey of Orefield. They also have two grandchildren, Brendan Augustine, an Eagle Scout, and Alex Steigerwalt.He moved to Carbon County in 1981. Before that, he lived in Northampton County.Hawkey had owned Hawkey's Motorcycle Shop along Route 248 near Walnutport until his retirement.The last couple of years have been difficult health-wise for the ever-smiling Marine veteran.In April 2012, he had a pacemaker defibrilator implanted. When that happened, his right lung collapsed.During his series of examinations, it was discovered he had prostate cancer.When they removed his prostate, the kidneys failed. Fortunately, they bounced back. It was discovered he had two kidney stones that had to be removed by ultrasound and it is thought they might have contributed to the kidney woes.Yet, he hasn't slowed down much. Last year he went kayaking 105 times. He put 6,000 miles on his motorcycle, most of it for charity work.Hawkey said, all the health problems "happened at once."He said the problem that bothered him most was the renal failure.When Hawkey was told he had the cancer, he had the option of radiation or having the prostate removed. "I'm skeptical of radiation," he said."Cancer has a stigma to it; just the word," he said.His biggest concern was about his wife worrying about him.Some of the other health problems Hawkey has encountered:•In 1988, he had his first heart attack and had angioplasty.• In 1995, while in Washington D.C., he had another heart attack. He received angioplasty and a stent.• In 2005, he had a mini stroke while in New York City.• In 2007, he had a mini stroke in Palmerton."Yet, I'm more active now than I ever was," he said.Hawkey added, "To me, with the rapid growth of the medical field and the talented people who are in it, there's always hope."