On Thursday 23 June students at Halfmoon Bay school on Rakiura/Stewart Island prepared food and hosted their families and community for a shared kai, as part of their participation in our Kiwi Can programme.
Halfmoon Bay school has included Kiwi Can in its curriculum for more than 15 years, finding value in the enthusiastic Kiwi Can leaders who visit the island fortnightly to help the students set a foundation of values and life skills so they can take on the world.
The shared kai initiative brings to life the community project component of the Kiwi Can programme and is aimed at helping students form positive relationships with their local community. Using locally sourced vegetables as part of a garden-to-fork project, the students made soup in the morning before serving it up in the afternoon alongside a kapa haka performance and other activities to entertain their guests.
Teacher Emily Joy says the students have sent out flyers inviting the community, talked to their families and put a post on Facebook to extend the invitation.
“The tamariki feel that the community project is a great way to bring everybody together to thank them for all of their support and are excited to be able to share kai from our school and home gardens.”
Graeme Dingle Foundation Southland General Manager Dave Gibbs says “the enthusiasm from the community-minded Halfmoon Bay school students in getting involved to support the school to give something back to their community is what Kiwi Can is all about. We love seeing tamariki grow their skills, self-belief and appreciation of the community around them.”
About Kiwi Can and Graeme Dingle Foundation Southland
Kiwi Can supports our youngest tamariki as part of a series of nationally recognised research-based programmes that engage with students aged 5 to 18, run by Graeme Dingle Foundation Southland. These programmes empower tamariki and rangatahi with the life skills they need to thrive.
Graeme Dingle Foundation Southland currently supports six primary schools to include Kiwi Can in their curriculum, working with over 800 tamariki in the region every week. A recent survey of Halfmoon Bay school parents showed 100% of respondents identified Kiwi Can as being an essential part of their health programme.
As a local charitable trust, programmes are fully funded by grants, donations and valued community sponsors including Community Trust South, Sanford, Aotearoa Gaming Trust, Central Lakes Trust, ILT Foundation and Bidfood. Independent research by Infometrics (2019) suggests that for every $1 invested in Graeme Dingle Foundation programmes, the long-term average return on investment to the New Zealand economy is $7.80.