A 9-year-old Passaic County boy collected donations for Hurricane Mara victims on the 1-year anniversary of the storm.

Woodland Park resident Jayden Perez collected dozens of items for kids and abandoned pets from Puerto Rico. Among the items were lanterns so that no one would be in the dark.

“It’s important because Puerto Rico needs it and they don’t have lots of light and once Hurricane Maria struck it was very bad,” he says.

Jayden’s mother says that she is very proud of her son.

“He amazes me with his generous heart and thinking of others. He does know that when he blesses people he gets blessed back,” says Ana Rosado.

Jayden and his mother will return to Puerto Rico for a second time so that they can hand out the lanterns and the lights to those in need.

Thousands were killed when the storm struck the island last year.