Needless to say, Santa’s arrival was crazy!! The crowd was excited!
Nova Iguaçu got into the Christmas spirit!
Yesterday was pure magic. The program brought together children of all ages, who were accompanied by their families, eager to see the good old man up close. In addition to the arrival of Santa Claus, the Christmas party ended with the distribution of about 600 toys, from prams, dolls, balls, heroes, games, among others. But the highlight was the bicycle raffle. The legendary arrived in the morning and enlisted the help of a noellete to deliver the gifts.
For many, an emotion without words, as for Dona Maria Celina Neves Silva, who took her 3 grandchildren to the party: “My daughter is working, I had to bring the children, it was really worth it, they are crazy, I want “I don’t even know why the youngest was so stupid. He came running to tell me that he grabbed Santa’s beard,” laughs the grandmother, who lives in the neighborhood.
The family moment was marked by pure excitement and anxiety for Celina Mattos and her children Nattan, 4, and Jessica, 8. According to the mother, when the little boy found out that he was going to “visit” “Noel”, he woke up.
early and asked to go to the party soon. According to him, “I didn’t want to miss the arrival of Santa Claus.”
So said little Jonnas Teixeira, 11, who was in the greatest euphoria – “I’ve never seen a Santa Claus arrive by helicopter, very cool.”
All the activity took place in the field of the free zone, located in R. Maj. João Pinheiro, number 4 – Jardim Iguaçu. Space is an example of a social phenomenon. About 20 years ago, a local leader, popularly known as Zé Auto Peças (after the name of the project), won the sympathy and trust of the residents. With the help of the community, he decided to revitalize a block in the neighborhood, transforming 100X50m² occupied by trash and abandoned for years, into a large entertainment territory. And today with a survival, after the support of Instituto Lavie, it has developed several activities
“Children must be children! And they must be protected, loved and cared for by us, by caring for children properly, we will not only protect them, but save their future and help to form better adults, more aware and prepared for happy to be part of this whole movement”, declared the president of the Lavie Institute, Patrícia Cavalcante.
The arrival of Instituto Lavie to the project has made a lot of difference. In October, she promoted a big party alluding to Children’s Day, for more than 300 children, with toys and sweets. And now it’s back with another action, directly and indirectly benefiting more than 1,200 people. And they are already planning other actions together.
“It’s been more than 25 years since there has been a party like this in our neighborhood. It was wonderful to see the faces of the children. At the age of 47 I was excited, imagine them”, emphasized Zé, who manages the space. The festival was a success.
Credit: Jonathan Freitas
