Anthony Hawkins from De La Salle College in Auckland with Kura Kai food parcels that are distributed to some families at their school. Photo / Greg Bowker
Anthony Hawkins from De La Salle College in Auckland with Kura Kai food parcels that are distributed to some families at their school. Photo / Greg Bowker
The Herald is profiling 12 charities awarded $10,000 each from Auckland Airport’s Twelve Days of Christmas community giving tradition. Each grant is thanks to generous travellers who placed unwanted currency into moneyboxes dotted around the terminals in 2024.
Exams can be a daunting time for high school students, particularly if their whānau is experiencing hardship.
This year, the charity Kura Kai has helped send students across South Auckland off on study leave with some extra aroha and support in the way of a Christmas goodie bag.
The Kura Kai Christmas Pēke (bag) was full of healthy treats and non-perishable pantry staples with some Christmas luxuries thrown in the mix.
“Our partnered high schools were so grateful for the support,” says Kura Kai general manager Marie Paterson.
“There is real hardship out there and added stress at study time. The bag of goodies lets whānau and rangatahi know someone is caring for them and has their back through that study time.”
This year, students from across six South Auckland schools received the bags as a pilot programme. But next year, the programme will expand after Kura Kai has received $10,000 from the Auckland Airport’s Twelve Days of Christmas community giving programme.
“The idea was to give a pēke of Christmas goodies before students head off for exams as something to recognise their hard work and effort and provide a boost of encouragement to keep it up,” Paterson says.
Kura Kai knows the importance of supporting students with good nutritional food. Throughout the year, it raises money to put chest freezers into high schools and builds a community of volunteers who cook nutritious family meals to keep the freezers well stocked.
Schools identify the need and give families direct help through a home-cooked meal.
“We have chosen to support secondary schools because the teen years can be that crucial ‘fork in the road’ period when rangatahi often come under pressure to make some big decisions, ones that can impact the course of their future,” Paterson says.
Kura Kai run by Marie Paterson's Charity was one of the 12 days of Christmas grant recipients from Auckland Airport, they are planning to use the $10,000 to help more families with kai for students. Photo / Greg Bowker
“Too many of our rangatahi are having to leave their education to gain employment at an early age to help financially support their whānau, sadly ending their education far too early.
“The Kura Kai freezers become an accessible hub of kai, particularly for when events such as bereavement, health issues, or loss of employment occur within in the whānau, making it a struggle to put kai on the dinner table that week. Having meals on hand that are easily accessible helps fuel the minds of rangatahi so they can focus on learning.”
Kura Kai has grown from a small initiative to a network of 40 high schools across the country. The charity is also rolling out its Kura Kai Rangatahi programme, which encourages high school students to become involved in cooking meals.
“Even if there is not a direct need within your school, we encourage high schools to look at supporting one of our partnered Kura Kai schools by cooking meals. This is a great way to encourage students to give back. It’s students helping students.”
Auckland Airport chief corporate services officer Melanie Dooney says the airport is delighted to help Kura Kai uplift whānau through the gift of food.
The $10,000 donation comes from travellers’ spare change and foreign currency deposited in the globe moneyboxes dotted around Auckland Airport throughout the year, and Kura Kai is one of 12 charities selected by the airport to receive the money.
“Some of the money will also be used to raise awareness about Kura Kai and encourage more volunteer cooks from among businesses and community groups to help fill the freezers,” Dooney says.
“Kura Kai can’t keep up. Where many of the partnered high schools are, the communities are struggling and schools see the benefit daily through students that have a nutritious and stable dinner.
“It’s so much more than a meal. It really helps.”
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