Christmas: it is the season of giving, of love and appreciation, and helping those less fortunate. We all hope to instill some of that magic in our children as they grow up so that they can discover the joys of spreading goodwill across the world.
It seems that this was taken to heart by Jayden Perez, an eight-year-old boy from New Jersey who wanted to do his part to help the children in Puerto Rico after seeing the destruction from the hurricanes this past year.
It all started back in September when his mother's boss gave them tickets to go see the New York Giants, his favorite team. They were overjoyed, as Jayden was a huge fan of the team and football in general.
Jayden was particularly struck by this act of kindness. So when Hurricane Maria rolled over Puerto Rico and caused a lot of destruction, he convinced his mother that they had to go around and collect donations.
They managed to ship out 40 boxes when they were finished, but this was only the beginning for Jayden.
We all hear about children who choose to donate their birthday or Christmas presents to less fortunate children. These saintly kids remind us of the important things in life, but some of them manage to take it another step further.
At Thanksgiving, when the spirit of appreciation was everywhere, Jayden said he not only wanted to donate his own gifts to the children of Puerto Rico, but also wanted to have a toy drive.
They put the word out in the neighborhood and online where it went viral. In no time at all, the drive accumulated more than 1,000 donations, with more on the way!
Originally, two family friends were going to fly to Puerto Rico to distribute the toys, but with the response they received, his mother said Jayden should be there to see the joy his efforts helped create.
"He has such a great heart," she said. "I know that my son is doing good out there."
