Twelve days of Christmas: Funds to help charity remove barriers to children's learning

Julie Chapman says KidsCan works to make sure no child is excluded for lack of basic necessities.

Auckland Airport is giving away $120,000 to Kiwi charities as part of its 12 Days of Christmas initiative. The Herald and Herald on Sunday will profile each recipient.

Children heading to school each day may worry about their homework or having the latest toy to show off to their friends.

But a lot of youngsters worry about the empty lunch box in their school bag, having to walk in bare feet or walking to school in the rain.

KidsCan helps hundreds of thousands of children from low-income areas by giving them new shoes, lunch and a raincoat.

The charity, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, is one of 12 groups from around the country to receive $10,000 from Auckland Airport's 12 Days of Christmas initiative.

The money is collected thanks to the generosity of the travelling public, who donate unwanted currency into donation globes around the airport throughout the year.

KidsCan chief executive Julie Chapman said the grant would buy raincoats for thousands of kids from 500 schools around New Zealand.

"KidsCan is dedicated to ensuring less fortunate children can get to school, have some food, shoes and a raincoat.

"It's essentially basic needs a lot of us take for granted growing up. It's about making sure kids have equal opportunity."

Over the years, the charity has provided more than 14 million items of food, 200,000 raincoats, 89,000 pairs of shoes and 230,000 health and hygiene packs to children living in hardship.

Mrs Chapman said they worked to make each child feel included and making school primarily about getting an education, rather than a place where a child felt excluded because they did not have certain things. "Some of the kids have never had their own pair of shoes. There's an ever-increasing need for raincoats. We're happy to be able to get more now."

Airport spokeswoman Anna Cassels-Brown said supporting the children's charity was a privilege.

"We are delighted to be able to support KidsCan and the great work they do across the country.

"Many of us take a raincoat for granted and we hope this gift helps children to stay dry, warm and healthy."

For more info visit: kidscan.org.nz