A delegation of Aris players visited the children of “Hamogelo tou Pediou” (“Child’s Smile”) organization, on Tuesday 22/12, and offered toys, autographs and lots of joy.
Nikos Chatzivrettas, Dimos Dikoudis, Nikos Barlos, Nikos Argyropoulos, Christos Papanikolaou, Gaios Skordilis, Spyros Mourtos and Linos Chrysikopoulos visited the boarding house where 29 children live, in Finikas, Thessaloniki.
“Many thanks to Aris BSA 2003 for their interest and for their visit. The children looked forward to meeting the players and they went crazy when they finally did. It was a wonderful afternoon for them”, said Ms. Georgia Karakitsiou, psychologist, who is also in charge of the boarding house for children in danger. She also attended with much pleasure the players’ invitation, so that some of the children could visit Alexandrio Melathro and see Aris play in one of the forthcoming games.
On behalf of Aris’s delegation, Nikos Chatzivrettas said: “Everybody needs some warmth and a loving hug these days, especially the children who miss their families. That’s why we are here, in order to give joy to the kids. In these festive days, there is nothing better than helping people in need. And it’s even better if we mean this and if we can do such things all year round”.
Aris’s captain also spoke about tomorrow’s away match against Olympiacos, for the first leg of Hellenic Cup semifinals (Wednesday 23/12, 19:00): “It’s a very important game, against a high level team. Being in the semifinals is a challenge for us and for our fans, given the fact that Aris hasn’t won any title for the last five years and now we are just some steps away. If we show the best of ourselves, we have the chance to have a positive result and have a good chance of making it to the final, since the second leg against Olympiacos will be played on our home court. Last Saturday’s defeat by A.E.K. hurt us a lot, because we played well at some points of the game, but eventually we were careless and unlucky, too. Nevertheless, every defeat makes you become more focused for the next game”.
Before saying goodbye to the children, the players made a lot of photos with them, as well as with the people in charge of the boarding house.
Photos: Giorgos Delenikas
