Kiwi kids' heartwarming gift for Waikato school's hard-working caretaker

Every school has a caretaker who works hard behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly.

And one group of Kiwi kids has made their school caretaker's day after nominating him for The Hits Love Your Land, Love Your School competition.

Over 3200 schools entered the competition and Walter "Digger" O'Hearn from Whitikahu School in the Waikato won the title of "New Zealand's Best Caretaker".

Digger - who has been working at the school for 38 years - took away $10,000 worth of STIHL SHOP tools for the school, to make his job a little easier.

To top things off, Digger and his wife were given a well-deserved holiday in the resort destination of Queenstown.

A humbled Digger stood in front of a sign with his name on it painted by the kids who put him up for the prize.

Digger said he was "blown away" by the surprise gift from the children who also performed their school's haka for their caretaker hero.

Good on ya Digger! We hope you enjoy your holiday and all those new tools.

This story originally appeared on The Hits and has been republished with permission.