Students get raincoats
Students at St Mary’s School in Avondale thought they were going to watch a special presentation for two of their classmates.
But thanks to KidsCan, they all walked away with brand new raincoats.
All of the school’s 196 students piled into the hall to watch head boy Laukau Halatanu and head girl Apriljoy Avito receive fleece-lined raincoats as part of the charity’s Raincoats for Kids programme.
The first surprise of the afternoon came when it was announced that the jackets would be presented by some special guests. New Zealand Rugby League stars Georgia Hale, Ben Henry and Ali Lauitiiti arrrived and after a brief chat to the students they declared that everyone would be receiving limited edition Warriors raincoats, much to the jubilation of the Avondale youth.
A decile three school, St Mary’s was taken off the KidsCan waiting list to join the programme in July of this year. Since the programs inception in 2005, KidsCan has provided over 237,000 raincoats to help children stay warm.
Warriors backrower Ben Henry, who himself has had a tough year after a recurring knee injury forced him into retriment at just 24-yearsold, said he takes a lot of joy out of being a part of the organisation’s various youth programs and loves seeing kid’s reactions when they are ‘‘provided with the essentials’’.