Mayor: Budapest ‘not a soulless city’

Budapest is “not a soulless city”, as it was founded on and is kept going by solidarity, Mayor Gergely Karácsony said on Tuesday at the launch of the Santa Claus trolley bus in City Hall park.

Speaking about the Hungarian Baptist Aid’s “shoebox” initiative aimed at collecting boxfuls of Christmas presents for poor children, Karácsony said the charity drive was “the most beautiful way to express this solidarity”.

Hungarian Baptist Aid head Dávid Gál said the initiative aimed to set a new record by collecting at least 70,000 boxes.

In the 20th year of the scheme, the organisers expect home-made gifts to arrive by 18 December, Gál said, adding that people could also put together shoeboxes online at ciposdoboz.hu.

Karácsony urged the public to “break the record of love” in collecting presents for the needy.

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