News April/May 2012 MAKING POVERTY LESS INVISIBLE On April 10 we launched the new look ‘In Our Own Backyard’ (IOOBY) campaign. You may have seen this on TV3 and Four, on Bus TV and on the backs of buses and in the NZ Herald. We are also making much more use of various online and social networking sites, which is helping us to create an even greater impact and drive membership growth. With the number of schools waiting to join up for KidsCan programmes at an all time high, the focus on securing IOOBY members donating $15 a month has never been more important. To date the campaign is yielding great results with a four fold increase in Facebook fans “liking” KidsCan, up from 820 to over 4,300 and a steady stream of ongoing donations. KidsCan would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to the following businesses for your generous support, expertise, time and donation of resource in making this amazing campaign come to life: The Trillian Trust, TV3 / Four, True, Flying Fish, OMD, isite, Image Centre, NZ Herald, Spark Activate, SynergyTxt, Yahoo!xtra, and TradeMe. CAMPBELL LIVE MAKES AN IMPACT The Campbell Live team has helped bring the plight of so many NZ children to the nation’s attention, with an in-depth look at KidsCan’s role in helping to alleviate child poverty. There has been an amazing outpouring of generosity that has resulted in over 900 new members signing up to donate $15 a month to support children In Our Own Backyard and the immediate addition of seven new schools into our programmes. You can view the items on the Campbell Live site, if you have missed them – www.3news.co.nz/TVShows/CampbellLive Our sincere thanks go out to John, Tristram, Kate and the entire Campbell Live team for bringing the face of NZ child poverty to life. DOMINOS DOUGH RAISER On Tuesday 17 April, a dollar from every Dominos pizza sold was donated to KidsCan. Domino’s Pizza New Zealand General Manager Josh Kilimnik says that the National Doughraiser was a resounding success. “It’s great to see this National Doughraiser in action where every single Domino’s all over the country is involved in raising money for Kiwi kids. It is with great pleasure that we are able to donate this $15,000 to KidsCan. At Domino’s we strongly believe in giving back and lending a hand where we can, and there is no cause more worthy than helping the smallest and most vulnerable members of our community,” he says. KidsCan CEO and Founder Julie Chapman says that the Trust’s partnerships with organisations such as Domino’s is essential to help the more than 270,000 Kiwi kids living in poverty. “KidsCan would like to thank Domino’s and all its customers for getting behind this National Doughraiser. The money raised will be used for our food programme, which currently supports 20,000 disadvantaged children every year. We are looking forward to our next Domino’s Doughraiser!” BUYING A CAR? AUCTION 1 in 3 cars for sale in New Zealand have money owing, a wound odometer or are reported stolen. If you buy a car without checking the history you run the risk of the car being repossessed or being worth far less than you paid for it. Save $5 on a MotorWeb Vehicle Information Report (VIR) and MotorWeb will donate $5, for every report sold to KidsCan. Visit www.motorweb.co.nz and enter the promotional code ‘kidscan’ to get your discount. FOR KIDSCAN Tristram European Cars launched their gorgeous EOS cabriolet in style on 24 April where 300 guests were treated to fine wine and canapés, a fashion show of the new collection by STORM clothing and hosted by Tony Murrell. Generous sponsors had donated packages for the silent auction which raised $7,558 for KidsCan, so a big thanks to Tristram and all others supporting KidsCan. BLACK GOLD IS A WINNER FOR KIDSCAN When news of the Marmite shortage hit the headlines in March and the much loved spread started to disappear from supermarket shelves, Gilmours Hamilton decided to auction 175g NZ Marmite alongwith a 25kg pail of the “black gold”, stating they would donate the winning profit to charities of the winner’s choice. On 30 March Hayley from Manukau City won the auction and nominated KidsCan to share her winning $2,115 bid. Thanks to Hayley and Gilmours for thinking of KidsCan and of course to all our supporters who bid too! Left: Rick from Gilmours Hamilton presents KidsCan CEO Julie Chapman with a cheque from the marmite charity auction. CEO REPORT THANK YOU I can’t believe we are almost half way through the year. The last five months have been an incredibly busy time at KidsCan with the team working hard to ensure children in low decile schools throughout New Zealand have shoes, socks and raincoats to keep them warm and dry during the coming winter months. I am pleased to report that so far we have provided over 14,000 raincoats, 7,000 pairs of shoes and 14,000 pairs of socks to children in our 211 partner schools. I would like to thank Clive our Operations Manager, the many volunteers and our in kind sponsor Retko, who have all dedicated hours of their time to a smooth distribution process over the past few months. We are now looking forward to the second half of the year and to supporting a number of new schools who have been on our waiting list for some time. Special mention must go to the Key Partners of KidsCan and to the many people who have become members of the ‘In Our Own Backyard’ club, donating $15 a month to provide the basics to a child in need. We could not continue our work with you and we are incredibly grateful for your ongoing contributions. Kind regards, • • • Purity Trading New Zealand presented KidsCan with a LED Projector. We’re happy to announce a new Silver Sponsor, Greenlea Foundation Trust Thanks to the Catholic Womens League, who are fundraising for KidsCan this year. KidsCan staff have started speaking at branches, including the annual convention in Rotorua, with more upcoming visits planned! Special thanks to all our donors, sponsors and those who wish to donate anonymously: B1G1 CH Izard Bequest Donny Charitable Trust Far North DC Kaikohe-Hokianga Four Winds Foundation The Fujitsu NZ Sales Team Grassroots Trust Hutt Mana Charitable Trust Infinity Foundation Roy & Jan Mace Sargood Bequest South Waikato DC The Research Company Valder Ohinemuri W Duncan Bickley Watson Charitable Trust William Toomey Charitable Trust Yvonne Bennetti WHAT’S NEW ONLINE? Julie Chapman CEO LETTERS FROM KIDS Check out our new facebook page for the latest news from KidsCan. We are really using our facebook page as a communication channel to let you know what’s happening at KidsCan and around the country so take a look and check out videos and photos from our KidsCan partner schools. Join in on one of the many debates or donate directly through our facebook page - please share our page with your friends so we can get the word out there and support as many disadvantaged kiwi kids as we can! HOW TO DONATE YOUR TAX REBATE TO KIDSCAN When you fill in the IR 526 form, at step 8, you can enter the KidsCan bank account details and we will receive any rebates as a donation. Our account number is 12 3026 0348180 00, ASB, KidsCan Charitable Trust. For some children, their KidsCan shoes are the first new item of clothing they’ve ever owned. We recently moved to a new database system and this month sent out year end tax receipts to all ‘In Our Own Backyard’ supporters. If you have any queries or updates to your postal address or email, please contact us to update your records. KIDSCAN WOULD LIKE TO SAY HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY TO THE WAREHOUSE! benefit thousands of children who are less fortunate than others. This is a fantastic milestone for a company that really cares about giving back to the community throughout New Zealand. KidsCan is proud to be one of the charities supported by The Warehouse and funds raised each year directly This year, funds from the 2011 ‘Christmas Cracker’ appeal are being used to provide 15,000 sunhats for children in low decile schools to protect them from our harsh New Zealand sun. We love working with the team at The Warehouse and we would like to congratulate them on 30 years of retail excellence. COULD YOU KNIT A BEANIE TONIGHT? If you can knit, we want your help! We’ve been thrilled with the beautiful beanies different volunteer groups have been knitting in readiness for the cold weather. We’ve been told it’s easy to finish a beanie in an evening. Could you? If you’d like to join in, a free beanie pattern is on our website at www.kidscan.org.nz/beanies-for-winter. Last year we gave out 8,371 beanies, we’d like to reach at least 10,000 this year. Send your beautiful knitted beanies to our office by 30 June - help keep our kiwi kids warm this winter! SPONSOR HIGHLIGHT - QBE QBE has made a significant sponsorship contribution to our KidsCan ‘Shoes for Kids’ Programme for the last two years. In return for this support, we provided QBE with the opportunity to hand out shoes to our partner school, Roscommon Primary. The event gave QBE team members the chance to experience what their support means for children in need. We also teamed up with the QBE team in Christchurch to distribute shoes and three giant bags of sports equipment to students at Linwood North School. We would like to extend a sincere thanks to QBE for their generous support, and Roscommon and Linwood for opening their doors for QBE to experience this heartfelt distribution. So far in 2012, KidsCan has distributed 6,672 pairs of shoes to 185 schools. SCHOOLS UPDATE WE’RE GOING TO THE ZOO! NEWS FROM THE NORTH BNZ approached KidsCan to see if staff from their Newmarket, Mt Albert, Mt Roskill and Manurewa branches could arrange a zoo trip for a lucky KidsCan school as part of the ‘Closed for Good’ initiative. Every year BNZ branches across New Zealand close their doors for the day to offer service to community projects. Becoming their ‘big buddies’ for the day, 29 BNZ staff and 24 Kelston Primary students visited the zoo together. The BNZ team helped the children complete a fun zoo worksheet and the children had a blast, experiencing something that they will never forget. Many thanks to BNZ for organising volunteers and zoo admission, the Auckland Zoo for putting together an excellent worksheet, and finally Kelston Primary for being so well behaved! Andrew, our Community and Sponsorship Relations Executive, recently visited 11 KidsCan Partner Schools in Northland. Although there is a growing need for KidsCan’s support, many schools are taking proactive action to create positive change in their school communities. Many schools are finding ways to involve parents into their child’s learning; with many initiatives focused around educating and up-skilling through cooking and computer courses. One of our partner schools in Kaitaia, Oturu School, is the entreprenuial hub of Northland. Students are actively involved in sourcing ingredients, producing, bottling, marketing and selling muscle balm; nit shampoo, olive oil, honey and sauces to local and national shops. All the materials are sourced within the school grounds and Principal Fraser Smith believes that this practical learning provides students with a creative mindset that breeds opportunities later in life. My trip up north was inspiring, showing opportunities can still arise with leadership and community support. Below: Andrew visited Te Hapua School during his trip, the most Northern Primary School in New Zealand! RAINCOAT DISTRIBUTION A raincoat distribution for the students at Te Papapa School. This was the school’s first raincoat distribution, with every student receiving a raincoat for the first time. This year saw the release of our new raincoat that includes a polar fleece lining; great to keep the kids nice and warm over the cold winter months. The distribution at Te Papapa, also provided an opportunity for a number of key sponsors to see first hand what their support means to the school. It was a great morning, but it was made even better with Tip Top providing the bread and the Mad Butcher providing BBQ supplies and sausages for the students and supporters. NEWS FROM HAWKES BAY SHOES FOR CHRISTCHURCH KIDS Brenda, Community Relations Co-ordinator, recently spent three days in the Hawkes Bay visiting some of our KidsCan Partner Schools in Hastings and Napier. Our latest Christchurch Shoe Distribution, at Linwood North School, made the headlines and generated a lot of interest online. Fantastic to meet the Principals and KidsCan Coordinators who are so dedicated to giving their pupils, who struggle with the basics, the best they can and are so appreciative of what KidsCan provides for them. Everyone adores the new fleecy raincoats, really warm for winter and which the children are very proud to be wearing. Of the 211 low-decile schools that we provides shoes, food and clothing to, 20 are in Christchurch. Julie Chapman, CEO of KidsCan said “Our third-biggest area of need is Christchurch, and that was even before the quakes,”. The school lost a third of its roll after the February 2011 earthquake and now has 125 pupils, down from 184. Thanks to Flaxmere School, Te Awa School, Hastings Intermediate, KimiOra School, Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Te Wananga, Irongate School, Pukehamoamoa School, Camberley School and Richmond School. A big thank you to Matt from Richmond School who has organized a place for KidsCan to speak at the Hawkes Bay Principal Seminar Day later this month. KIDS HELPING KIDS On 5 April Hamilton Boys High School held their annual Run for Life. Around 1,500 people participated, each donating $5. Some people ran and others walked the course along the banks of the Waikato River. It was well supported by the teachers also, from helping with marshaling to some even running. Raising $7,500, in addition to the $900 raised at an athletics coin trail, KidsCan would like to say a big thank you to the school and Scott Cameron, Deputy Head Prefect. Thanks to College St Normal students in Palmerston North raised $900 for KidsCan through a baking sale. Above: KidsCan shoes have now replaced this worn out pair. VOLUNTEERS UPDATE Our volunteers have been kept on their toes from late February to April with two “Food for Kids” distributions and both our “Raincoats for Kids” and “Shoes for Kids” distributions being completed! The support we receive from our generous volunteers is invaluable and the team at KidsCan would like to say a huge THANKS to those that have lent a hand or two over the last two months. We couldn’t do it without you! During the third week of March, 7 volunteers came in to help sort and box 14,061 raincoats ready for nationwide deliveries! One month later another 8 volunteers freed up their time to help pack 6,672 pairs of shoes and 13,344 pairs of socks, which have now been sent out to schools throughout the country. We are now fully booked for volunteers for food distributions, however will be needing help with the expanding Santa Run Event in December. WANT THIS NEWSLETTER EMAILED TO YOUR INBOX? Go to www.kidscan.org.nz/newsletter Contact details: (09) 478 1525 4,341 followers now on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/KidsCanNZ [email protected] www.kidscan.org.nz