BLESS YOU: Janice Kennedy wraps her arms around a Secret Santa after he gave her $400 and $100 to another woman (inset) on Staten Island. (
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The Secret Santa who generously gave out $100 bills to Staten Islanders suffering from the catastrophic aftermath of Hurricane Sandy says he was in awe of neighbors helping each other.
“What I saw in Staten Island, I drew inspiration from that,” the wealthy businessman from Kansas City, Mo., told The Post.
“It’s not about the gift of giving money. It’s about the gift of joy you give yourself when you give to others.”
The unnamed saint of the holiday season went on a whirlwind tour of the borough Thursday afternoon, first stopping at a Salvation Army thrift store on Mosel Avenue in Concord.
It was there that he gave four $100 bills to a shocked Janice Kennedy.
Kennedy, an unemployed 41-year-old with a 2-year-old daughter, had her Cedar Grove Avenue home in New Dorp Beach destroyed by the superstorm. She told the AP she has since been staying with her boyfriend.
Clutching the bills in her right hand, she wrapped her arms around Secret Santa in a giant hug and said she would use the extra cash toward Christmas presents and her toddler’s next birthday.
“His generosity was matched only by his ability to connect with people from all walks of life before he pulled out the $100 bills,” said a law-enforcement official who accompanied Santa on his mission of compassion.
Santa next headed over to the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall on Mill Road in devastated Oakwood Beach.
He was moved as volunteers served homemade food and provided cleaning supplies to residents trying to piece together their disrupted lives.
“Which is more powerful, the force of Hurricane Sandy or the spirit of the people on Staten Island to rebuild? I would say the spirit of the people of Staten Island,” he said.
Santa said he was saddened by the extensive damage he saw in the bungalow-dotted beachfront neighborhood, but noted that people are continuing to hold their heads high.
“It was just a neat thing to see the spirit of that community coming together,” he said.
His hope is that wealthy one-percenters will read about his actions and be moved to do the same.
“I want to recruit other executives and CEOs to act as Secret Santas in different cities,” he said.
Santa was friends with the late philanthropist Larry Stewart and picked up the tradition of giving when he died from cancer in 2007.
“He was on his death bed and told me that his biggest regret was that he couldn’t have helped more people,” said Santa.
“I told him, ‘I am going to stamp your name on as many 100 bills as I can come up with and hand them out coast to coast.’ And, I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Asked how much money he has shelled out over the years, Secret Santa admits he doesn’t keep a tally.
“I just take a lot of money out of the bank and go until it’s gone. When there are towns and cities in need, I go there,” he replied.
Santa said he admires billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates for their philanthropic endeavors, even though he has never met them.
But, he adds, even a person of modest means can make a difference.
“One of the principles I try to teach is random acts of kindness. To lead and demonstrate by example that anybody can be a Secret Santa just by the acts they do,” he said.