'It's Christmas for them, too': Montreal teen gives out food, clothes to city's homeless - Action News
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Montreal

'It's Christmas for them, too': Montreal teen gives out food, clothes to city's homeless

Annalysa Di Genova was just five years old when she started a holiday tradition of helping people experiencing homelessness. Now, 14 years later, she's still at it, and her efforts to give back have grown to new heights.

Holiday tradition began when Annalysa Di Genova was 5 years old

A young woman is pictured in front of a table of food.
Annalysa Di Genova,19, was just five years old when she started a holiday tradition of helping people experiencing homelessness. (Chlo Ranaldi/CBC)

It all started at Christmas time 14 years ago, when then five-year-old Annalysa Di Genovaspotted a man sitting outside in the cold, clasping a cup of change.

Sitting across from her father at a local eatery, she asked him what the man was doing. He told her he was asking people for money to buy food.

"So I was like, 'OK, let me just go give him my bagel," saidDi Genova, now 19.

"He was like, 'No, no, you're hungry, eat.We're going to buy him a bagel and a coffee.' And that's what we did."

Then, she saw another person experiencing homelessness, prompting her father to buy a second meal for that man.

"After that I was like, 'You know what, dad, I want to do this every single year,'" said Di Genova.

A table full of clothes and other winter gear.
The project relies heavily on private donations, such as jackets, gloves, scarves, hats and socks to help people living on the streets stay warm. (Chlo Ranaldi/CBC)

Since that day, the father-daughter duo hashandedout thousands of meals and bags of clothes every Christmas to the city's most vulnerable population.

The project started in the family's kitchen but has sinceexpanded to the basement of theNotre-Dame-de-la-Consolatachurch, where roughly a dozen volunteers came together Saturday to help prepare the food and gather up the donations that will be hand-delivered to those living on the streets as well as to the city's shelters Saturday night.

Di Genova says this project is her way of giving back to those less fortunate than her, which helps her get into the holiday spirit.

"It's Christmasfor them, too," she said. "Themain goal is just to see them happy and to see that they're not alone."

A portrait of a man wearing a Santa Claus hat.
Febo Di Genova hopes younger generations will learn from his daughter and get involved in helping out those less fortunate than them. (Chlo Ranaldi/CBC)

Di Genova's father sayshis goal is to inspire younger generations to step up and help out.

"I want them involved to see how my daughter learned," said Febo Di Genova. "We need to be grateful for what we have that others don't have."

The project relies heavily on private donations from people across the island, such asingredients for sandwiches, winter clothesand other essential supplies that will be added to the care packages.

Several companies have also gotten on board, donating new winter jackets, socks, hats and gloves every year.

"It doesn't make a difference how much you give," said Febo. "It's as long as you give and you want to help the next."

Pieces of bread on a table with mustard on them.
About a dozen volunteers gathered to help prepare the food and gather up the donations that will be hand-delivered to those living on the streets as well as to the city's shelters Saturday night. (Chlo Ranaldi/CBC)

It's an important message Lia Gentile wantedto pass on to her two teenagers when she began volunteering with them several years ago.

She says she wanted to expose her kids to the fact that "life is not always roses and there are people that are wanting a simple thing like a sandwich."

"They're so appreciative," she said of the people who receive the care packages."You can tell that they appreciate that someone thought of them."

For Di Genova, the annual project isn't the end. She wants to open up a soup kitchen at her church going forward as well as develop a way to get basic groceries to all those in need.

"Iwon'tstop because it brings me joy, it brings me happiness," she said. "It's just a little thank you that Igive to the people and to the world."

Based on reporting by Chlo Ranaldi