Bevan McDonald

KidsCan believes that education is a child’s ticket out of poverty, and gives them the opportunity for a better future. But kids can’t learn when they are cold, wet and hungry. So we partner with schools and early childhood centres across New Zealand to give the 1 in 5 Kiwi kids affected by poverty the essentials they need to learn. KidsCan’s food programme provides nutritious, hearty breakfast, snack and lunch foods to 40,000 hungry school kids every day. Our clothing programme gives children new fleece-lined jackets and sturdy shoes, so they arrive at school warm and dry, no matter the weather. Our early childhood centre programme provides preschoolers with a jacket, shoes and socks and freshly prepared meals daily. KidsCan partner schools and early childhood centres report our programmes help increase participation and attendance of their students. KidsCan alumni tell us that being warm and dry at school, with a guaranteed meal every day, helped them with their learning and achieve their goals. Since KidsCan was founded in a garage in 2005, the organisation has grown to become New Zealand’s leading charity dedicated to helping Kiwi kids affected by poverty. Our programmes are available to 200,000 children in over 800 schools and 100 early childhood centres, with 5 million items being sent from our Auckland warehouse each year. None of this would be possible without the support of generous Kiwis and our corporate partners, whose donations help ensure no Kiwi kid goes without. Join us today at www.kidscan.org.nz.