Athens' Christmas ‘milk tree’ feeds thousands of people

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For the eighth consecutive year, a Christmas tree made from tins of condensed milk and other food products was erected in the center of Athens University on Friday.

The Christmas tree is from the local Doctors of The World NGO but is only up for just one day each year.

Throughout the day, tins of milk and packages of rice, beans, sugar, olive oil and other canned food products were donated by Athenians and will be distributed to thousands of households in need across Greece during the holiday season.

The initiative was launched after a young patient in one of the clinics run by the NGO asked doctors treating her a simple question about Father Christmas.

A woman holding her son lights candles for a special Christmas tree made up with milk tins and other food products in the center of Athens, Greece, on December 15, 2017. /Xinhua Photo

"Eight years ago a little girl who was a patient at the clinics run by the 'Doctors of the World' asked us whether Santa Claus brings milk as a present. I do not know whether he does, but [for] all these years there are several people who do," Nikitas Kanakis, the NGO's President said.

"This is a Christmas celebration and it is also a way to recall and remember the beauty of solidarity and teach it to our children," he said.

The first year the "milk tree" was set up, the NGO counted 5,000 cans. In the following years, as more and more people heard about the initiative, the "Doctors of the World" collected about 55,000 cans of milk and more than four tons of other food products.

Athens' Christmas ‘milk tree’ in 2013. /Photo via tovima.gr

With the support of the thousands of citizens who stopped by the university's yard on Friday - as well as central squares in other three cities - the "Doctors of the World" hope to break a new record this year and send a loud message of solidarity and hope.

Vassilis A. was among the Athenians who donated a bag with milk tins and canned food.

"I came here today to join the "Doctors of the World", because I believe that, in particular, in harsh times we must remain human beings," he told Xinhua.

"The festive season has started and we know that each year the Doctors of the World are organizing this charity event so we came here to support this work," Dimitra G. added.

The debt crisis which has hit Greece hard in 2009 has caused poverty rates to spiral and NGOs have been necessary to support state efforts in helping those in need.

The goal is that nobody will be left without a basic meal during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

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Source(s): Xinhua News Agency