CHARLOTTE -- It's been two months, but life is far from normal in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria made landfall in September.

“You know you're giving me chills as I'm speaking to you,” said Sarah Cruz, as she talked to us about her family. “That's when the anxiety filled in for the majority of us that have family there. Are they alive? Did they survive?”

Cruz is one of many people in Mecklenburg County whose loved ones live on the island.

She works at Shining Stars Academy in Ballantyne. The owner of the child care center, Mayra Cintron De Shahid, also has family in Puerto Rico.

Two months after the hurricane, still only about half of the island has power and cell signal.

Cruz and Cintron De Shahid worry the island Is getting forgotten.

“You hear about a week or two... and then you forget,” Cruz said.

Hurricane Maria was the third hurricane to hit the United States in a short period of time. First, it was Hurricane Harvey flooding Texas at the end of August. Next, Irma in Florida in September and then Maria.

With Christmas and Three Kings Day quickly approaching, Cintron De Shahid is collecting toys.

“Right now they're not celebrating. Because they can't put lights, christmas lights,” she said. “I feel that children need a lot of help psychologically. And I think that if we can bring just simple toys like balls or something simple like coloring books and crayons, they'll be thankful.”

If you’d like to help, you can drop of donations at Shining Stars Academy in Ballantyne during the day Thursday and Friday, and between noon and 4 p.m. this weekend. You can also donate on this page.