The little things that mean so much
When Daniel Brown’s elder son first started school he wore a red polo shirt from K-Mart without the school emblem because it cost only $3.
“I saw that he felt a bit different,” Brown said. “He did see that the other kids had the emblem on their shirts. It was unaffordable for me at the time.”
Brown, 37, is a solo dad to two young boys, Eruwera, 8 and Niko, 5.
He cannot afford school uniforms, stationery or sports fees for his two boys who now both attend Bairds Mainfreight Primary School in Otara.
Brown is studying fabrication and engineering fulltime at the Manukau Institute of Technology in South Auckland and he and the boys live off a $370-a-week student loan.
So when the school counsellor first told Brown about Variety — the Children’s Charity’s Kiwi Kid sponsorship programme, he applied for Eruwera.
Not only did it mean Eruwera didn’t feel self-conscious about his uniform, but the sponsor also paid for extracurricular activities which meant the boy was able to join a sports team.
“It paid for his sports fees and sports uniform and those costs are really high for someone like me,” Brown said.
“To get him out there to be a part of a team helps him to meet new people, to get along with others and helps with his social skills.”
Now Brown is hoping another generous Kiwi will sponsor Niko, who started school in October and needs everything required to attend school.
That includes the red polo shirt with the school emblem, navy blue shorts, black lace-up shoes, a hat and stationery.
Though Brown said the school was as understanding as possible and assisted where it could, it wasn’t enough.
Sponsorship not only means Brown will have a bit more money left over each week to care for his children, and that they can each play sport, but it also has a positive effect on the whole family.
“It just means that I get to see them smile a bit more.”