ATHENS - Chinese communities in Greece donated on Thursday to Greek Children's Shelter "SOS Eliza" 16,680.77 euros ($21,793) raised during a charity bazaar.

The money was delivered to representatives of "SOS Eliza Home for the Therapy and Rehabilitation of Abused and Neglected Children," a non-government organization which supports suffering children in Greece.

"The amount donated might not be big, but the move represents the love of Chinese peoples and in particular of Chinese living in Greece to the country and Greek children," said Yang Guohua, the wife of People's Republic of China ambassador in Greece, Du Qiwen.

Heads of Chinese communities associations in Greece delivered an envelope with the donations to the organization's treasurer Olga Karatza who pledged that "it will be well used for the wellbeing of children."

"Even though our communities in Greece are not rich, there is plenty of gratitude and strong willingness to give back to Greek society," stressed Yang, who hosted a ceremony on the same day.

Yang noted that despite the big geographic distance between the two countries, there are many stories of mutual support on many occasions.

On the Greek part, Vice-President of "Eliza SOS" Children's Home Leonidas Georgopoulos conveyed sincere thanks to Yang, the Chinese communities and ambassador Du Qiwen for their effort.

"It shows that people from a country which is so far away are coming so close and give an example of how we should work together," he said.

On Dec 11 Chinese living in Greece joined forces with Greek friends and under the auspices of the embassy held successfully a Christmas charity bazaar at the embassy that showed once again the strong bonds between the two countries and peoples.

"SOS Eliza Home," founded in 2008, offers hospitality and aid to up to 10 children of preschool age who have suffered physical or mental abuse, sexual violation or serious neglect.

The idea of creating the organization was born after a tragedy that shocked the United States in 1995, the killing of six year old Eliza Izquierdo by her drug addict mother and her boyfriend.