2,652 children waiting for KidsCan help as school gates open

As the calendar ticks over to the start of another school year, KidsCan has 2,652 students from 19 schools waiting to benefit from the charity’s food, clothing and health programmes.

This is the highest number of students in need at back-to-school time in the past three years. Up more than a thousand on this time last year and the year before.

KidsCan CEO and Founder, Julie Chapman says 2,652 is a considerable number of children in urgent need at a time when already struggling families face additional crippling back-to-school costs.

“Coming on the back of Christmas families living in hardship, who are already going without the basics, face the added stress of having to stretch what little they do have even further. The reality is, the extent of deprivation some families are living in means sometimes it can’t be done and more children are turning up to school without food and adequate clothing, while others are even kept home to avoid embarrassment.”

KidsCan already provides food, clothing and basic health items in 700 schools nationwide, with 168,000 students having access to its programmes. Last year KidsCan witnessed a worrying increase in the need for food assistance, with the number of children it feeds climbing to 30,000 a week.

The charity can now reveal in 2017, it distributed: 4.4 million items of food. 47,000 raincoats. 27,000 pairs of shoes. 171,000 health items. While supporting an additional 100 schools.

The percentage of decile 1-4 primary, intermediate, and high schools supported by KidsCan jumped from 58% to 65%. Including 83% of all decile 1 schools (up from 75%) and 82% of all decile 2 schools (up from 72%).

KidsCan is asking New Zealanders to help make 2018 a year of new beginnings for the 19 schools waiting for help and become monthly donors. A donation of just $15 a month enables KidsCan to provide a child living in material hardship with food at school, a raincoat, shoes, socks, and basic health and hygiene items – plasters, tissues and hand sanitiser.

“This is about rallying in support of New Zealand’s disadvantaged children. Children who want to go to school to learn and create a bright future for themselves but who without our help will be denied realising their dreams of becoming a contributing member of society.

“All children have dreams. Some just have a greater chance of making them a reality. With New Zealanders help, we can positively impact the lives of an additional 2,652 children this year,” says Julie Chapman.

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If you can add a link to our support a child page we would really appreciate it. https://www.kidscan.org.nz/get-involved/support-a-child Thanks in advance.

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