'Secret Santa' Gives $100 Bills to Sandy-Hit Residents

Anonymously hands out cash in NJ, NY
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 30, 2012 10:57 AM CST
'Secret Santa' Gives $100 Bills to Sandy-Hit Residents
A wealthy philanthropist from Kansas City, Mo., known as Secret Santa, distributes $100 dollar bills to needy people at St. Joseph's Social Service Center in Elizabeth, NJ, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012.   (Rich Schultz)

A wealthy Missouri man posing as "Secret Santa" stunned New Yorkers, handing $100 bills to many in Staten Island who had lost everything to Superstorm Sandy. The anonymous Kansas City businessman is giving away $100,000 this holiday season, and he spent yesterday in New Jersey and New York giving away thousands. But "the money is not the point at all," he said as he walked up to surprised Staten Island residents and thrust crisp bills into their hands. "It's about the random acts of kindness. I'm just setting an example."

A police motorcade with sirens took him across the borough, passing a church ripped from its foundations and homes surrounded by debris. Uniformed police officers from New York and New Jersey, plus FBI agents and former agents, kept close watch over the cash handouts. Some have become supporters, wearing red caps marked with the word "elf" and assisting "Santa" to choose locations where people are most in need. He himself wears an "elf" cap and a red top, plus blue jeans. Click for more of the heartwarming story. (More holidays stories.)

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