Mel McDougall (left) and Beth Savage are behind a gift of food to the families of Keith St School children. Photo / Bevan Conley
Mel McDougall (left) and Beth Savage are behind a gift of food to the families of Keith St School children. Photo / Bevan Conley
Keith St School pupils took home a "kai surprise" for their families when they finished school on Friday.
It's been a very food-focused time for the school, with donations of food, learning about food and a decision to provide its own school lunches next year.
"Our children have done awhole lot of work this term, understanding about nutrition and where food comes from," deputy principal Mel McDougall said.
Last week each family brought a named bag to school, and it was filled with food the charity KidsCan, the Harrison St Community Church and Whanganui's Kai Hub supplied.
McDougall said she was certain the food would be appreciated.
"We know that Christmas can be a really hard time for everybody," she said.
All the bags were topped with fresh bread. Underneath were other packaged foodstuffs, such as bags of rice, butter chicken sauce mixes and cans of baked beans.
Some families at the central city school have high needs. It has no PTA, and staff and other organisations have rallied to help.
Beth Savage is the community co-ordinator for nearby Harrison St Community Church and also an active member of Whanganui's Kai Hub, which rescues and redistributes food.
She said Kai Hub's two part-time staff collected supermarket food that was not saleable, but still usable, twice a week. Most of the food was packaged, and the hub aimed to provide fresh vegetables and fruit too.
Bread and other food is packed up, ready for Keith St School families. Photo / Bevan Conley
It distributes the kai to organisations like the school, Creative Space and Te Ora Hou. It's looking to use the former Whanganui City College hostel in St Hill St as a base and buy an electric van.
So far its funding is through a Whanganui District Council community contract and the council's Waste Minimisation Fund, and also through Countdown which has a food waste protocol.
It's forming a Whanganui Kai Trust to work under.
The Harrison St Community Church wanted to get involved with its community so Savage approached nearby Keith St School. She helped McDougall organise twice-weekly school lunches, supplementing the Ministry of Education's Ka Ora, Ka Ako healthy school lunches programme because the children found those lunches unappealing.
KidsCan is a charity that provides food, clothing and health products for the 20 per cent of New Zealand children living in poverty. It sends pallets of food to the school, which McDougall uses in its "breakfast cafe" and for snacks and to supplement the lunches.
