An anonymous Kansas City, Mo., businessman who has pledged to give away $100,000 this holiday seasons was in New York and New Jersey Thursday pressing $100 bills on people in neighborhoods hit hard by Superstorm Sandy, says the Associated Press. The self-styled “Secret Santa”—with an escort of uniformed police officers and current and former FBI agents wearing red caps marked “elf”—gave thousands of dollars to strangers as he visited disaster sites and relief centers from Elizabeth, N.J., to Staten Island.

The philanthropist would not divulge his name but said he is following in the footsteps of a Kansas City friend, Larry Stewart, who died in 2007 after giving away more than $1-million to strangers in food pantries, homeless shelters, and thrift stores. The current Secret Santa said he has given away hundreds in cities across the country.