Atlanta

Restaurant owner gives back to help kids have a special Christmas

ATLANTA — The owner of a local restaurant helped give some Georgia families a very special Christmas.

Channel 2′s Ashli Lincoln spoke with the owner about why this toy drive took on extra importance this year.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Many of these families lost their jobs because of the pandemic. The owner here said if it weren’t for their Christmas giving, many of these families would have gone without gifts on this special day.

Ebony Austin, the owner of Nouveau Bar and Grill, said it’s moments like these that make all the hours of hard work worth it.

“This year was extremely important to us,” Austin said.

This week, she and her team blessed more than 50 families with some of the top items on their Christmas lists.

“A lot of the things we saw was dirt bikes, we saw the Xboxes, we saw the laptops, so we literally went through these Christmas gifts and got the kids exactly what it is and what we knew they wanted this year,” Austin said.

TRENDING STORIES:

This is her second year hosting their toy drive giveaway.

With many Georgia residents still navigating unemployment and the COVID-19 pandemic, Austin said giving back in a big way was needed this year.

“People losing their jobs, people still trying to find work, and what we learn was a lot of people are still trying to piece their Christmas together, so if we could do anything to help them piece that puzzle together, that’s what we did this year,” Austin said.

Austin said she spent her own money buying more than 70 bikes, 30 four-wheelers and other gifts.

“Some things kids shouldn’t know what’s going on, so our job this year was to be able to piece that Christmas back together,” Austin said.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Other business owners stepped in to help by giving away gift cards and making donations.

In all, they spent more than $60,000 to make sure area kids had a special Christmas.

IN OTHER NEWS: