‘Game-changer’ at the tuck shop
Schools have welcomed a new online lunch booking service that allows people to donate lunches to hungry children.
Parents can also use Txt My Lunch to order a nutritious $6 lunch for their own children, rather than send them to school with cash to spend at a Champion Tuck Shop.
When a lunch is purchased by a donor or parent, Txt My Lunch sends a meal ticket to the child’s mobile phone, or direct to the school, to be redeemed for a lunch at the school canteen.
Txt My Lunch founder Johannes Tietze, a former chef, said getting good, nutritional food into schools was the driver behind the business. ‘‘I wanted to break down the myth that you can’t get good food at a good price.’’
Tietze said the average transaction at a New Zealand school cafeteria was just $3.
‘‘As a chef, I know I could not deliver a healthy meal for that money. We figured that it would take a minimum of $6 to get a traditional meal, an option of a drink and a piece of fruit,’’ he said.
‘‘This could be a game-changer for low-decile schools. Corporate businesses or private individuals can go online and allocate money to a school and ensure no-one’s learning is compromised.’’
Villa Maria College was among three Christchurch high schools to join the service this week, taking the total number of schools to sign up to 13 since June.
Tietze plans to eventually serve all schools that have a Champion Tuck Shop.
Villa Maria College principal Deborah Brosnahan said students were ‘‘excited about it‘‘.
‘‘A really big advantage we saw for the service was that we could provide students with a lunch who might be in need and otherwise not get anything to eat.
‘‘We have made use of this service, and students are able to seek support when it is needed.’’
According to the Child Poverty Monitor, there are 295,000 Kiwi children living in households with relative income poverty.
Rotorua Lake High School’s executive officer, Lilian Gilbert, said the meal donation service was already a hit.
‘‘Every school has students who don’t have enough food and now we have an avenue to provide them with nutritious food.’’
Gilbert said the school receives about 10 donated meals a week.
An app for the service will be available by the end of the year.