Michaela Pflug
Who is Dr Moomoo?

Kansas City has its very own superhero. He regularly takes to the streets as a masked avenger. But Dr Moomoo isn’t out to catch crooks; he just wants to make people smile. For that, he doesn’t need super powers, magic or crazy gadgets.

By Michaela Pflug

In his pockets are candy and a $100 bill. He distributes them once a week downtown to people who need a “boost,” as he says. He’s out and about every Monday. But he’s not as anonymous as he used to be. Last year – after talks and with his consent – Dr Moomoo was unmasked by the local newspaper. “I believe, it was meant to be that people know. It might inspire them to do something themselves”, says the man whose real name is Dave McGee. 
 
He’s done good deeds as Dr Moomoo for 36 years now. “I know in my heart that this is why I was put on earth, that this is my purpose. It gives me peace and happiness”, explains McGee. He had opted for anonymity because he wasn’t doing it to receive praise from other people and so that he could walk the streets undisturbed as Dave McGee. Even his long-time partner Mark knew next to nothing of his philanthropic adventure. “It didn't surprise me. He was always very compassionate.” 

“If you don't have a car, you are probably struggling”

McGee says that he listens to a voice in his heart that moves him to take action. “I hear a voice in my heart that tells me to do something.” In particular, homeless people and people who are moving about outdoors. Most frequently he heads to the bus stops and their surroundings on his weekly tours through downtown. Because Kansas City is a car city. “If you don't have a car, you are probably struggling”, he explains.  
 
Everyone gets sweets, but only one person gets the money. The voice in his heart along with his experience and intuition help him discover who the lucky recipient will be. He converses with people, asks how they’re doing and at some point asks “do you need a little boost”. And everyone he asks could. A lot of money isn’t necessarily needed to help the people, says McGee. Most are already happy about the sweets and the attention. “I am trying to lift people's spirit.” 
 
And sometimes there’s no need for money at all, but just time and compassion. He remembers one situation in particular that happened when he was traveling in another city as a cycling tourist. Using his bike as a makeshift cart he took a disabled homeless person to his son’s workplace. “It didn't cost me a dollar, just my time and energy.”

The story behind Dr Moomoo

Maybe it was also something from his own past that led him to getting involved in helping people on the streets. McGee’s mother died when he was a child, his father married again, the stepmother and stepbrother mistreated McGee and his sister, he says. After a particularly violent episode they had to leave the house and lost their home. “My sister stayed with neighbors, but I had to bounce around and even shared a couch with five dogs for six months.” After a while, though, the two were informally adopted by two sisters. 
 
McGee studied and became a chiropractor in Kansas City. He covered his practice from top to bottom with black and white cow skin decorations. It wasn’t random, he says. “It was a shrine.” As a child, one of his chores was to make a hole in the ice for the cows in winter so that they could drink. One day when he was unable to finish his task before school, a cow broke through the ice in search of water and drowned. “Thanks to the decoration, my patients started to call me Dr. Moomoo.”
 
The 61-year-old wants to continue doing good deeds as Dr Moomoo as long as he is physically able. Maybe even in Germany. In a few years, after his partner’s retirement, they want to move there. “I just have to get Euros and Mark has to translate,” he says with a smile.