School lunch service well received

CHEAP AND CHEERFUL: One of the $3 lunches Kelsie Southon and her team make for needy kids.

It's hard enough making lunch for your own kids, let alone countless others - but Kelsie Southon isn't your average mum.

After reading stories about children from low-income families going hungry at school and seeing some of the unhealthy options available, she decided to do something about it.

Volunteering her time alongside a team of dedicated friends and family, Ms Southon spends about two hours every evening preparing $3 lunches for 12 schools throughout Hastings, from a licensed kitchen on Duke St.

A menu was loaded onto the website kidslunches.co.nz and orders made for the following day. Ms Southon did bulk baking on Sundays for the following two days and again on Wednesdays, making everything from muesli balls to muffins.

"I thought something needed to be put in place to help low-income families to provide lunches for kids at school," she said.

"I came up with the concept - what if I make lunches and drop them off at the school? - it wasn't quite that simple, we had to rely on volunteers and do everything properly with council, I started a month ago and it has just grown from that."

Each lunchbox has a piece of fruit, sandwich with ham or a spread, baking, vegetables and dip, and a cracker.

Due to time pressures and not enough helping hands they will not be able to take on any more schools until at least next year - and have not yet decided whether to continue the concept as a charity or move to a business model.

"We needed to get schools on board so they would accept deliveries, but some of them have even taken responsibility of gathering payments for us."

At the moment they were barely breaking even and regular supermarket trips made life difficult - though a recent $500 grant from Kiwibank helped them "stock up" a bit.

They have been asked to expand into teachers' lunches and were also popular with busy parents who didn't have the time to put together a comprehensive lunch for their kids.

However as it stands growth would be difficult as it is not Ms Southon's only responsibility - she's also a mother, relief child care worker and is finishing a diploma in youth work via Workforce Development in Napier.

-For more information on Kids $3 Lunches Hawke's Bay, visit: kidslunches.co.nz