What: Big Night In telethon for KidsCan.
When: From 7 o'clock tonight to 6pm tomorrow.
Where: TV3.
Three-quarters of the 57,000 children in New Zealand's poorest 10 per cent of schools are now receiving food from charities, with growing waiting lists as the recession throws more parents out of work.
A 23-hour telethon on TV3 this weekend - New Zealand's first telethon in 16 years - aims to raise about $2 million to help the charity KidsCan reach 32,000 children on its waiting list for food, shoes and raincoats.
The Red Cross, which provides breakfasts at a further 49 schools in the lowest income decile, said it was reaching a quarter of the 195 poorest schools, another quarter were being fed by other charities such as KidsCan, a third quarter had organised their own breakfasts using parent volunteers, and one quarter still had no food arrangements. As well, 500 low-decile schools receive one piece of fruit for every student each day through the Labour Government's fruit in schools programme, which the National Government is reviewing.
Prime Minister John Key promised in a speech on NZ's growing "underclass" in 2007: "A National Government will challenge the business community to work with us in backing a programme of providing food in low-decile schools for kids in need."
Nine months to the day since his Government was elected, the Government has yet to initiate such a programme. But a spokeswoman for Mr Key said: "There has been work going on around getting food into schools and there is likely to be an announcement in this area in the near future."
KidsCan founder Julie Helson said she was in talks with the Ministry of Social Development which could lead to partial state funding of KidsCan's food programme. Health Ministry Deputy Director-General Fepulea'i Margie Apa convened a meeting in Auckland last week of all the charities, businesses and official agencies involved in food schemes.
New Zealand's biggest business, Fonterra, and cereal maker Sanitarium are spending $750,000 between them on the first year of a programme called KickStart, offering free milk and Weet-Bix to about 1000 schools in the four lowest income deciles. So far 299 schools have joined it. KidsCan is spending $1.2 million this year on food, shoes and raincoats for 110 schools with sponsors including Warehouse Stationery, adidas, Conferenz, Courier Post, Nice and Natural and Tasti Products.
Progressive Enterprises provides free food for the Red Cross breakfasts.
Shirley Maihi, principal of decile-one Finlayson Park School in Manurewa, has joined all three schemes and believes they are making a dent in South Auckland children's Third World levels of skin diseases and cold-related rheumatic conditions.
"We've noticed some of the spinoffs have been improved skin conditions and better attitudes to learning," she said. "It has improved our attendance on wet weather days. A lot of it is down to children having raincoats."
Glen Innes Primary principal Lynell Martin has joined only the Government's Fruit in Schools scheme but said even that had made a difference to pupils' health.
The Health Ministry told schools that the Fruit in Schools scheme was only a three-year trial and was being reviewed in the light of an evaluation that was due last month. Public health manager Warren Lindberg said that a third of the $12 million budget was being spent on advisers working with the schools to promote wider healthy eating and physical activity.
"This and other overheads need to be significantly reduced," Mr Lindberg said. "The ministry is currently evaluating the programme to see how this can be achieved."
