Schools get biggest-ever food delivery
The kids at Mangere East Primary School laugh and grin as they rip into the freshly delivered boxes of muesli bars and Weet-Bix.
They’re just one of the 583 schools to be part of KidsCan’s largest ever food delivery.
Over 1 million items of food are being sent out this month.
Mangere East Primary assistant principal Michelle Hillman said the numbers of kids needing breakfast had tripled since they started getting help from KidsCan three years ago. Around 50 children used to turn up in the morning, now they see 180 students at breakfast.
“This winter it’s been a bit harder on parents,” Hillman told the Herald.
“Our kids come from backgrounds with parents who have low-paying jobs or are jobless. They come from large families and finding enough food can be hard.”
According to the latest information from the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, 155,000 Kiwi kids, or 14 per cent, are living in hardship. Many families are spending 60 per cent of their income on rent, leaving not enough money for other bills, food and necessities such as transport and clothing.
Without the KidsCan breakfast some children would be coming to school with nothing, Hillman said.
“Kids can’t learn on an empty tummy. This means teachers have a [tougher] time in the classroom.
“[With breakfast] kids can concentrate.”
The low-decile, 580-pupil school also gets donations from Eat My Lunch and Fonterra.
Ioane Pasikala, 10, said he felt grateful and happy with the food that “helps us fill our brains”.
KidsCan chief executive Julie Chapman said the record delivery was because they were able to take 25 schools off their waiting list after they got more sponsors at the end of last term. Now every week they feed over 30,000 students.
There are still 16 schools on the waiting list. “We need more people to sign up to support children.”