Jammies for kids in need
An east Auckland school is getting behind a pyjamas campaign early to help kids in need keep warm this winter.
Jammies for June, an initiative by the Middlemore Foundation, gets warm pyjamas to kids within Kidz First Children’s Hospital, National Burns Unit and other community organisations like Midwives, Plunket and B4 School Programme.
It began in 2012 when medical staff at Middlemore noticed increased high volumes of cold children presented at its Emergency Department, much of which was preventable by the simple act of keeping children warm in the colder months.
New pyjamas or money are accepted for the campaign, with all proceeds going towards purchasing more pyjamas.
Last year eight schools from Auckland took part, and six from the rest of the country. This year, school participation numbers have increased even though the campaign doesn’t kick off until June 1.
Kohimarama School started its campaign early this year. From May 22, for a week, the school began its collection of pyjamas. More than 70 pairs of jammies were collected on the first day.
Jammies in June project coordinator Charlene Colling said last year, it collected 5000 pairs of new pyjamas, and distributed more than 8000 pairs. This year, it aims to collect more than 6000 jammies.