Joseph Parker hangs up boxing gloves to help hungry kids

Joseph Parker helping the Eat My Lunch charity at his old school. Photo / NZ Herald Focus

Kiwi boxing champ Joseph Parker has hung up his boxing gloves - long enough to make some sandwiches.

The world heavyweight champion lent a hand yesterday at Eat My Lunch, a social enterprise that aims to deliver 1400 lunches to 40 schools every day.

Eat My Lunch offers subscriptions and catering for people to buy lunches. Every lunch bought sees a lunch donated to feed a child at a low-decile school.

Co-founder Lisa King told NZHerald Focus's Tristram Clayton the idea came from a TV segment comparing the lunches of children from decile 1 and decile 10 schools.

"I just remember how much that affected and shocked me. There was this shoe company in the US doing a 'Buy One Give One' model on shoes - whty couldn't we do the same for lunches?"

In the past two years the social enterprise has given away more than 430,000 lunches, she said.

Parker delivered the sandwiches to his former primary school, Papatoetoe North School, yesterday.

He told Focus he remembered struggling to think clearly when he was hungry as a child.

"It was surprising how many kids don't have lunches," Parker said.

"If we all get behind this cause, it'll help a lot of the kids out there who don't really get enough food."