Fill Their Lunchbox - Help Alleviate NZ Child Poverty

By Ben Diggy

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Community,



NZ $33,630 pledged


466 people pledged


Closed


NZ $30,000 minimum target


100 100% Complete

This campaign was successful and closed on 21/03/2016 at 7:00 PM.

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About

Fill Their Lunchbox - Help Alleviate NZ Child Poverty

Project 2016-02-06 22:05:09 +1300

"Fill Their Lunchbox" has a vision.... We plan to change the tomorrow of New Zealand, but we need your help!

Our Country's Dilemma:

It hurts us greatly to see the future of New Zealand is struggling to get the basic necessities of life. What may seem an assumed basic right to many of us, is a fight for so many.

  • 305,000 kiwi kids live in poverty (thats a huge 29% of NZ children),
  • 148,000 kiwi kids go without food, warmth and clothing,
  • 60% of these children live in poverty for many many years, 
  • 9% live in extreme poverty.

Something needs to be done. We endeavour to do our bit to alleviate the effects this has on the life of our children. Something as simple as providing a lunch to a hungry child can change their life for the better.

What We Do:

Over the past year we have supplied 8,000 lunches to impoverished kiwi kids from three Christchurch schools (Linwood Avenue, Aranui Primary, and Te Waka Unua - a product of the Woolston Primary and Phillipstown Primary merger.) It has been a humbling and a rewarding experience, but we have been limited by funding, and not having our own dedicated kitchen. But, we know with the help of the community, we can do so much more.

Our Plan Moving Forward:

"Fill Their Lunchbox" is moving FULL-TIME with getting our own custom built kitchen that can operate 24/7 and involving you with the "buy one, gift one" model. That is, for every lunch you order, not only do we deliver it to you but we donate a lunch to a kiwi kid in need too. Lunches will be available to order from our website (under construction) the day prior to delivery, and our menu will change every day.

Our lunches for the children will have a health conscious focus, with co-operation from local nutritionists we will be supplying a suitable selection of food to cater to a growing child's needs, whilst tackling New Zealand's child obesity problem.

Our operator, Ben "Diggy" Atkinson is an experienced chef with the passion and creative flair to deliver healthy and delicious fresh food to both our customers and our children.  

Our goal is huge, but so are our hearts. We are aiming to break the cycle and impact of child poverty and with your generous pledges we can build our kitchen and have the capacity to provide lunches to over  2,000 hungry kids every week. 

Funding:

To be completely honest $30,000 is a low ball figure and we will require more personal investment and funding strategies. However, we hope that by doing this together we can raise $80,000 to get this rolling. This covers the cost of our kitchen being built, the commercial kitchen equipment, all installations to be fitted correctly and inspected by the council, working capital to keep us on our feet for the first few weeks, initial stock (food and packaging), rent, utilities, vehicle purchase and maintanance, and paying our small group of staff. To ease this burden we are hoping to have the community help us in donating some of the kitchen equipment needed and can be contacted at the link below.

The Future:

This initiative will take place in Christchurch, a place that has gifted me a beautiful 12 years of memories and experience. However, it is incredibly important to me to also get this initative operational in my home town of Nelson as well. I feel it as a duty and a need to pay homage to my roots, raising over $120,000 would make this a possibility within six months. 

Thank you for your time and we hope you share our passion, every dollar counts and we are in this for the long haul, so find a reward, and pledge your hearts away. Lastly, if you are a business that has a suggestion for a reward you could offer we would love to hear from you, and can be reached via our facebook page 

This is your chance to make a positive change in our own community. One you can see and one you can be involved in.

“The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problem.” - Mahatma Gandhi

 

Comments

Updates 4

To all Pledgers, it's time to throw cream pies!

25/05/2016 at 3:58 PM

Ok everybody! Hope you have been following our journey on Facebook!
We are getting closer and closer and have organised a small fundraising event on FRIDAY 3RD JUNE between 4 and 6pm. This is your chance to cash in on all of those cream pies you pledged for :)
Here is the event page on facebook make sure to check it out and click attending. 
There will be a live DJ and also some merch and a sausage sizzle available!


Thank you all,

Ben, Alicia, and Tony

You need to pledge to see this update.

LAST DAY

21/03/2016 at 10:30 AM

Thanks to you all for choosing to get behind Fill Their Lunchbox

This is something I am very passionate about and was initially concerned that the general public would not share my passion. You have proven me wrong though, all 441 of you!

The support you have shown to push this over the line has been no short of phenomenal! 

My heart is warmed to see the goodness in so many people, I love our community and how much we care.

We have reached our target of $30k and now in the final hours of our campaign are trying to push to $40k

Our start up cost sits approximately at $80k so the more we can get today the better :)

Please, get involved if you can. Share this campaign, share our latest post on our facebook page, just hours to go! We can do this Christchurch!

#Letsraise40k

Thank you, 

Ben "Diggy" Atkinson

Our Final Week!

15/03/2016 at 5:13 PM

Man what a ride these past few weeks have been, I feel like I've met hundreds of new people and learnt a lot over this process.

We have had interviews with multiple radio stations, articles in The Press, Stuff, and The Nelson Mail, and even a segment with What Now.

We have also been gifted by the generousity of many people who have provided us with Pro-Bono work. It is very much appreciated.

Our Kitchen is designed and the build will begin soon, we are currently looking at some potential sites to put it now which is super exciting!!

I just want to personally thank everyone for all of your pledges, we have had over 180, which is an incredible amount of people to show they care about this issue.

We have six days remaining and $10,000 to raise, I am hoping we can do this and we need all of your support, share our pledgeme page, write a little info on how you know me, or why this cause is important to you. We also would love to have a few businesses come forward as cash sponsors if you know of anyone. We need the village to come in on this.

Thank you all so much, you make be proud to be a cantabrian and a kiwi :)

Ben Diggy

 

    Pledgers 466

    Trevor K Roe
    21/03/2016 at 6:44pm

    "all the best , so proud of what you are doing "

    Morgan 'Mo' Olliver
    21/03/2016 at 6:40pm
    Jessica Brown
    21/03/2016 at 6:19pm
    Justine Scott
    21/03/2016 at 6:16pm

    "Great campaign!"

    Tash Chittock
    21/03/2016 at 6:07pm
    Paul Zaanen
    21/03/2016 at 5:57pm

    "Well done! Inspirational!"

    Gabrielle Purchas
    21/03/2016 at 5:11pm
    Anonymous pledger
    21/03/2016 at 4:48pm

    "Awesome idea, its only idea's in action which will change the world for a better place :)"

    Chris
    21/03/2016 at 3:47pm
    Mel Whyte
    21/03/2016 at 2:56pm
    royce mckean
    21/03/2016 at 2:54pm

    "Brilliant project Ben hope it goes from strength to strength"

    Chloe Morris-Levings
    21/03/2016 at 2:19pm

    "Fantastic cause! Love Levings School of Dance xxx "

    Joanna Ferrara
    21/03/2016 at 2:19pm
    Anonymous pledger
    21/03/2016 at 1:26pm
    Soraya Nicholas
    21/03/2016 at 1:02pm
    Anonymous pledger
    21/03/2016 at 12:40pm
    Anonymous pledger
    21/03/2016 at 12:31pm

    "Charity begins at home Kiwis. Get behind this awesome group to help feed our Nation's and very importantly out cities KIDS"

    Hannah Livingston
    21/03/2016 at 12:25pm
    Kelly Simpson
    21/03/2016 at 12:18pm
    Sarah McKenzie
    21/03/2016 at 12:07pm
    Carla Benton
    21/03/2016 at 11:51am

    "This is such a fantastic cause. Sorry I haven't pledged sooner. Keep up the amazing work!"

    Ginnie Clucas
    21/03/2016 at 11:19am
    Ginnie Clucas
    21/03/2016 at 11:18am
    bee
    21/03/2016 at 10:48am
    Lynette Hill
    21/03/2016 at 8:47am
    Patricia Williams
    21/03/2016 at 5:55am
    Anonymous pledger
    20/03/2016 at 8:39pm
    Lisa Shannon
    20/03/2016 at 7:44pm
    Danielle Hadfield
    20/03/2016 at 7:43pm
    Sara Whyte
    20/03/2016 at 10:04am

    Fill Their Lunchbox - Help Alleviate NZ Child Poverty

    Project 2016-02-06 22:05:09 +1300

    "Fill Their Lunchbox" has a vision.... We plan to change the tomorrow of New Zealand, but we need your help!

    Our Country's Dilemma:

    It hurts us greatly to see the future of New Zealand is struggling to get the basic necessities of life. What may seem an assumed basic right to many of us, is a fight for so many.

    • 305,000 kiwi kids live in poverty (thats a huge 29% of NZ children),
    • 148,000 kiwi kids go without food, warmth and clothing,
    • 60% of these children live in poverty for many many years, 
    • 9% live in extreme poverty.

    Something needs to be done. We endeavour to do our bit to alleviate the effects this has on the life of our children. Something as simple as providing a lunch to a hungry child can change their life for the better.

    What We Do:

    Over the past year we have supplied 8,000 lunches to impoverished kiwi kids from three Christchurch schools (Linwood Avenue, Aranui Primary, and Te Waka Unua - a product of the Woolston Primary and Phillipstown Primary merger.) It has been a humbling and a rewarding experience, but we have been limited by funding, and not having our own dedicated kitchen. But, we know with the help of the community, we can do so much more.

    Our Plan Moving Forward:

    "Fill Their Lunchbox" is moving FULL-TIME with getting our own custom built kitchen that can operate 24/7 and involving you with the "buy one, gift one" model. That is, for every lunch you order, not only do we deliver it to you but we donate a lunch to a kiwi kid in need too. Lunches will be available to order from our website (under construction) the day prior to delivery, and our menu will change every day.

    Our lunches for the children will have a health conscious focus, with co-operation from local nutritionists we will be supplying a suitable selection of food to cater to a growing child's needs, whilst tackling New Zealand's child obesity problem.

    Our operator, Ben "Diggy" Atkinson is an experienced chef with the passion and creative flair to deliver healthy and delicious fresh food to both our customers and our children.  

    Our goal is huge, but so are our hearts. We are aiming to break the cycle and impact of child poverty and with your generous pledges we can build our kitchen and have the capacity to provide lunches to over  2,000 hungry kids every week. 

    Funding:

    To be completely honest $30,000 is a low ball figure and we will require more personal investment and funding strategies. However, we hope that by doing this together we can raise $80,000 to get this rolling. This covers the cost of our kitchen being built, the commercial kitchen equipment, all installations to be fitted correctly and inspected by the council, working capital to keep us on our feet for the first few weeks, initial stock (food and packaging), rent, utilities, vehicle purchase and maintanance, and paying our small group of staff. To ease this burden we are hoping to have the community help us in donating some of the kitchen equipment needed and can be contacted at the link below.

    The Future:

    This initiative will take place in Christchurch, a place that has gifted me a beautiful 12 years of memories and experience. However, it is incredibly important to me to also get this initative operational in my home town of Nelson as well. I feel it as a duty and a need to pay homage to my roots, raising over $120,000 would make this a possibility within six months. 

    Thank you for your time and we hope you share our passion, every dollar counts and we are in this for the long haul, so find a reward, and pledge your hearts away. Lastly, if you are a business that has a suggestion for a reward you could offer we would love to hear from you, and can be reached via our facebook page 

    This is your chance to make a positive change in our own community. One you can see and one you can be involved in.

    “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problem.” - Mahatma Gandhi

     

    Comments

    To all Pledgers, it's time to throw cream pies!

    25/05/2016 at 3:58 PM

    Ok everybody! Hope you have been following our journey on Facebook!
    We are getting closer and closer and have organised a small fundraising event on FRIDAY 3RD JUNE between 4 and 6pm. This is your chance to cash in on all of those cream pies you pledged for :)
    Here is the event page on facebook make sure to check it out and click attending. 
    There will be a live DJ and also some merch and a sausage sizzle available!


    Thank you all,

    Ben, Alicia, and Tony

    You need to pledge to see this update.

    LAST DAY

    21/03/2016 at 10:30 AM

    Thanks to you all for choosing to get behind Fill Their Lunchbox

    This is something I am very passionate about and was initially concerned that the general public would not share my passion. You have proven me wrong though, all 441 of you!

    The support you have shown to push this over the line has been no short of phenomenal! 

    My heart is warmed to see the goodness in so many people, I love our community and how much we care.

    We have reached our target of $30k and now in the final hours of our campaign are trying to push to $40k

    Our start up cost sits approximately at $80k so the more we can get today the better :)

    Please, get involved if you can. Share this campaign, share our latest post on our facebook page, just hours to go! We can do this Christchurch!

    #Letsraise40k

    Thank you, 

    Ben "Diggy" Atkinson

    Our Final Week!

    15/03/2016 at 5:13 PM

    Man what a ride these past few weeks have been, I feel like I've met hundreds of new people and learnt a lot over this process.

    We have had interviews with multiple radio stations, articles in The Press, Stuff, and The Nelson Mail, and even a segment with What Now.

    We have also been gifted by the generousity of many people who have provided us with Pro-Bono work. It is very much appreciated.

    Our Kitchen is designed and the build will begin soon, we are currently looking at some potential sites to put it now which is super exciting!!

    I just want to personally thank everyone for all of your pledges, we have had over 180, which is an incredible amount of people to show they care about this issue.

    We have six days remaining and $10,000 to raise, I am hoping we can do this and we need all of your support, share our pledgeme page, write a little info on how you know me, or why this cause is important to you. We also would love to have a few businesses come forward as cash sponsors if you know of anyone. We need the village to come in on this.

    Thank you all so much, you make be proud to be a cantabrian and a kiwi :)

    Ben Diggy

     

      Trevor K Roe
      21/03/2016 at 6:44pm

      "all the best , so proud of what you are doing "

      Morgan 'Mo' Olliver
      21/03/2016 at 6:40pm
      Jessica Brown
      21/03/2016 at 6:19pm
      Justine Scott
      21/03/2016 at 6:16pm

      "Great campaign!"

      Tash Chittock
      21/03/2016 at 6:07pm
      Paul Zaanen
      21/03/2016 at 5:57pm

      "Well done! Inspirational!"

      Gabrielle Purchas
      21/03/2016 at 5:11pm
      Anonymous pledger
      21/03/2016 at 4:48pm

      "Awesome idea, its only idea's in action which will change the world for a better place :)"

      Chris
      21/03/2016 at 3:47pm
      Mel Whyte
      21/03/2016 at 2:56pm
      royce mckean
      21/03/2016 at 2:54pm

      "Brilliant project Ben hope it goes from strength to strength"

      Chloe Morris-Levings
      21/03/2016 at 2:19pm

      "Fantastic cause! Love Levings School of Dance xxx "

      Joanna Ferrara
      21/03/2016 at 2:19pm
      Anonymous pledger
      21/03/2016 at 1:26pm
      Soraya Nicholas
      21/03/2016 at 1:02pm
      Anonymous pledger
      21/03/2016 at 12:40pm
      Anonymous pledger
      21/03/2016 at 12:31pm

      "Charity begins at home Kiwis. Get behind this awesome group to help feed our Nation's and very importantly out cities KIDS"

      Hannah Livingston
      21/03/2016 at 12:25pm
      Kelly Simpson
      21/03/2016 at 12:18pm
      Sarah McKenzie
      21/03/2016 at 12:07pm
      Carla Benton
      21/03/2016 at 11:51am

      "This is such a fantastic cause. Sorry I haven't pledged sooner. Keep up the amazing work!"

      Ginnie Clucas
      21/03/2016 at 11:19am
      Ginnie Clucas
      21/03/2016 at 11:18am
      bee
      21/03/2016 at 10:48am
      Lynette Hill
      21/03/2016 at 8:47am
      Patricia Williams
      21/03/2016 at 5:55am
      Anonymous pledger
      20/03/2016 at 8:39pm
      Lisa Shannon
      20/03/2016 at 7:44pm
      Danielle Hadfield
      20/03/2016 at 7:43pm
      Sara Whyte
      20/03/2016 at 10:04am
      This campaign was successful and got its funding on 21/03/2016 at 7:00 PM.