(ANS - Madrid)- During the Christmas season children, young people, volunteers and teashers of nineteen Salesian Sports Academies in fourteen countries on three continents  will be united in solidarity. Some of these will be celebrating Christmas in the cold of winter, while in others it will be summer.

Christmas is drwing near and the Sports Academies run by the Salesian Missions, in collaboration with the Real Madrid Foundation, are ready to show solidarity and friendship above and beyond the normal during the holidays.

The SportBosco Academy of Manique, in Portugal, for example, has had a visit from a famous chef of Cascais, who taught the older students how to make areias Cascais a traditional cake of the area. So, besides having fun in the kitchen these young people are busy preparing a special snack for Christmas, which will be shared with all the beneficiaries of the school, their families and volunteers.

Across the Atlantic, the Dom Bosco Academy at Jardim Nordeste, a needy community on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, launched a Christmas Solidarity campaign  to ensure a gift for each of the more than 1,400 children and adolescents who regularly attend the  Social Centre of the Salesian parish of Santa Luzia and the adjoining nursery.

So far they have collected about 33,000 reais (€ 10,300). "Once again this year Pai Natal (Santa Claus) will visit this community, thanks to the solidarity of many friends and volunteers.  Seeing the faces of these children when they receive a Christmas gift is one of the highlights of the year," says Fr Plinio Possobom, Director of the school.

Published 04/12/2014