KEY POINTS:
Children at one of Auckland's poorest schools will no longer have to stay home on wet days or arrive at school drenched, thanks to a charity gift of raincoats.
The principal of Mangere's Robertson Rd School, John Nicholls, said attendance always dropped on wet days because most children did not have raincoats - until yesterday.
The school became the 91st low-income school to get free raincoats from KidsCan, a charity which also provides food and shoes to children whose parents can't afford to give them breakfast or dry footwear.
All Blacks Ali Williams, Anthony Tuitavake and Anthony Boric helped hand out the raincoats to mark KidsCan being chosen as the All Blacks' official charity for the next three years, replacing the international Save the Children Fund.
"It was really a chance to bring the charity home," said the Rugby Union's manager of community rugby, Brent Anderson. "The All Black players themselves were very keen to give New Zealand kids some help."
More than 70 per cent of Robertson Road's 530 students are from Pacific Island families, and 21 per cent are Maori. Only four students - less than 1 per cent - are Pakeha.
Mr Nicholls said the school wanted to give its students the best opportunities, but lack of food, clothing and poor attendance were barriers.
"A number of families are very hard-pressed financially," he said.
"In terms of how many come with raincoats, the number is not high at all.
"We have spare school uniforms to put them in [if they arrive wet], and we have a drier at the school if they need it."
The school gives free breakfast to between 20 and 80 children every morning, with sponsorship from Fonterra.
KidsCan manager Julie Helson said the charity was feeding 7000 children a day within its budget of $1 million a year, but had a waiting list of more than 80 schools where children were still turning up hungry.
"The only thing holding us back is funding," she said. "In terms of the food programme, we would need $1.5 million to sustain all the schools on the waiting list."
Funding comes from companies such as Warehouse Stationery, philanthropic and gambling trusts such as the Trillian Trust and events such as a lingerie show attended by patron Ali Williams on Wednesday night.
Te Atatu company Tasti Products has agreed to provide free muesli bars to the charity for a further year after being linked with KidsCan last year by National Party leader John Key.
The charity also plans to start a "Stand Tall" initiative in August to give children excursions with high achievers such as Williams, TV3 journalist Mike McRoberts and Kiwi-born Hollywood actor Karl Urban.
"It's for kids who have never got past the corner dairy, to go on excursions with successful people," Mrs Helson said.
"They are going to learn values, goal-setting and things that are going to help motivate them to achieve."
Mr Nicholls said such role models showed students they could do anything.
"Having a link with the All Blacks to get these people into the school is just as important as the jackets."
