June 2007 Recipients
Mt Wellington children will have fresh fruit to eat at school – with help from a Mazda Foundation grant. The grant of $5,000 will go towards the Maungarei Community Christian Trust’s Food For Thought programme which distributes fresh fruit to low decile schools in the Mt Wellington area.
Tracy Winther of the Maungarei Community Christian Trust says a week’s worth of fruit is delivered to Bailey Road, Sylvia Park Primary School and Panmure District School on Monday mornings and given to pupils three times a week.
“There are many needy children within the Mt Wellington catchment that go to school hungry. It is a proven fact that children who have poor diets are low in vitamins and have increased learning difficulties and behavioural problems.”
Before morning tea, classes stop what they are doing and as a group sit and eat their fruit. “This has become a very special part of the day and good relationship building time for each class,” says Tracy.
