A Canberra father-and-son duo have generously donated gifts to the Queanbeyan Women’s Domestic Violence Emergency Shelter for Christmas this year.
George Andonaros and his 9-year-old son Hugo have been gathering Christmas gifts to give to the less fortunate for the last four years.
“Every year for the last four years, Hugo loves to give back to people who aren’t as fortunate as he is,” George told The Greek Herald.
“At Easter time, we had bought a box of 30 chocolate Easter bunnies to distribute, and this year for Christmas, Hugo chose gifts for three boys and three girls.”
The gifts included Hot Wheels cars, Barbie dolls, and arts and crafts supplies including pencils, texters, erasers and colouring books.
George said after going through a divorce a few years ago, he wanted to show his son the importance of giving back to others and teaching him that there are other kids worse off than him.
“Hugo has all the luxuries a child could want and more, and I wanted to show him how something so small can mean so much to someone who has nothing,” George said.
“Buying and giving these gifts I think also teaches Hugo to be grateful for what he has and it shows him how much of a difference it makes to even one child by donating something or purchasing them a gift to open on Christmas Day.”
George said he hopes to continue this tradition of gift giving with his son for many more years to come.
“It’s something I love to do with Hugo,” he said.
“This year, he actually reminded me and asked me himself when we were going to go shopping for the kids for Christmas.
“He just loves it. And it makes me so proud to see him want to help other kids.”
George and Hugo dropped off the presents to the domestic violence shelter on Friday, December 8.
