Empty lunchboxes filled for $5

Local mum Tinaya Johnston has started making lunches for children who go to school without. Photo / Stephen Parker

The thought of children going to school without lunch was too much to bear for one Rotorua woman, so she decided to do something about it.

Local mum Tinaya Johnston has started making school lunches for children who would have otherwise gone without.

For $5 per child per week (it's an extra $1 per sibling), Ms Johnston makes lunch packs complete with fruit, home baking and a little treat.

She said making the lunches took about 15 minutes.

"I made my first batch this week and it consisted of about 16 lunches. I make sure the lunch has a sandwich, some home baking, fruit, a bag of chips and either a yoghurt, a muesli bar or a Le Snak.

Ms Johnston said the idea "completely took off on Facebook" with immediate orders from a family of six children and a delivery order from a family of three children.

"It all started when I saw children walking into kindy with just a little sandwich for lunch, or sometimes nothing at all.

"I decided I had to do something because children need food to sustain them throughout the day."

She said it wasn't a decision she took lightly, but in the end she thought, "If I feed these kids, then at least I know there aren't children going to school hungry or being kept home from school because there's no food in the cupboards".

"I mulled over the idea for a few months and then about a week ago decided to put a call out on Facebook to see if there was any interest.

"Within 48 hours I had hundreds of comments, likes and private messages and I just thought to myself, wow, there is so much demand out there, I have to follow through now."

She said she was driven to help out because she didn't want to see children suffer.

"I just want to see kids going to school with enough good, healthy food so they can concentrate in class."

Ms Johnston said she wasn't out to make a profit, all the money went into buying for the next day's lunches.

"It was never about making money, I just wanted to be able to do something for my community and show people that if we work together, we can support our young ones and give them the best start in life."

- To make an order for Ms Johnston's lunch packs, call (021) 064 1643 or visit Facebook page, Glenholme Lunches.