DAYTON, Ohio — With his bright sunglasses, festive hat and stony smile, Frank the Christmas Gargoyle became an unlikely social media star.
After years on his owner, Denise Starr’s, porch, he started to ruffle some feathers last December when a neighbor left a note declaring the decoration needed to come down because it wasn’t in the Christmas spirit.
What happened next sparked a year-long series of Facebook posts granting the gargoyle more than 700,000 followers and a starring role in a Christmas book, but most importantly to Starr, raising more than $500,000 for a series of area charities.
From then on, Starr’s made it a point to ensure her porch stands out, especially around Christmas time.
As the holiday gets closer, she adds more and more quirky decorations to the display.
“It’s kind of like an Advent calendar, countdown to Christmas so we add a new character every day,” she said.
They all have the dressings of the holidays. Maybe some are wearing Santa hats or red or green scarves, but Starr likes her decorations to be a bit more unconventional.
Next to Frank, there’s an army of skeleton creatures, Fiona the Hippo and a toilet covered in tinsel. The wackier the better.
“It just really was a joke,” Starr said. “But for whatever reason people really responded to it.”
It seemed to be something people needed after a difficult 2020.
Weeks after she posted about “Frank the Christmas Gargoyle” and his battle with a neighborhood “Karen,” Starr said her Facebook page built up a massive following.
“They send their personal stories and how the page makes them laugh and helps them through a difficult time so that’s really the coolest thing for me,” she said.
Some began to offer donations to help Starr build up the display, but Starr thought that money would be better suited to helping others.
Within weeks, Frank’s first fundraiser raised more than $80,000 for Dayton’s Foodbank Inc.
“And at that point, I decided to see how long it can go for the whole year,” Starr said.
She started rotating Frank’s holiday displays, changing up the charity depending on the need that particular season.
“Every real holiday and a few made-up ones,” she said.
Starr said her second fundraiser was Feeding Texas in response to the state’s freeze at the beginning of the year. Others included the Cincinnati Zoo, the Gary Sinise Foundation, Hospice of Dayton and currently Feeding America.
“We just officially hit $500,000 raised across the charities so that was really exciting,” she said.
Frank also inspired others to find their own ways to give back.
A South Carolina woman inspired by Frank’s story turned it into a Christmas picture book using the proceeds to fund her local Parents as Teachers program.
“I never had any expectation it would do anything like that,” Starr said.
Now a year into her journey with Frank’s fame, Starr said she’s put in work to make him bigger than ever.
She’s gotten a few decorations donated and invested in a giant inflatable gargoyle for her front lawn.
“That’s as close as I can get to a Macy’s Day balloon,” she laughed.
Starr said she’s been in touch with her neighbor about her display, and let her know about the money it has raised for charity.
While she still gets notes from time to time suggesting she’s not 100% on board with the silly decorations, Starr said the neighbor seems to be in on the joke now.
Now Starr said she plans to keep it going as long as Frank continues to be a force for good. In her mind, that’s in keeping with the Christmas spirit.
“it’s just kind of cool to be able to use my sense of humor to kind of help other people out,” she said.