The community partnership between Fonterra, Sanitarium, and the Ministry of Social Development is celebrating its 15-year milestone.
Since it began in 2009, KickStart Breakfast has expanded to serve Fonterra Anchor™ milk and Sanitarium Weet-Bix™ to more than 42,000 students every school day with 66% of those primary school age.
The programme is open to all public schools and is found in over 1,400 of New Zealand’s 2,500 schools – from Kaitaia to Bluff and across to the Chatham Islands.
While KickStart Breakfast supplies Anchor™ milk and Sanitarium Weet-Bix™, it’s up to each school to provide the rest; the bowls and cutlery, the space and the people to run the breakfast club. The KickStart Breakfast team support schools with sourcing equipment and finding volunteers, along with running the programme to suit their schools' need.
More than 4,000 volunteers, including whānau (family), church groups, clubs and societies, local businesses, and youth groups all generously donate their time and energy to serving KickStart Breakfast every school day.
Karlene Verryt is a Fonterra farmer and employee, based in the Co-op’s London Street office in Hamilton and has volunteered regularly at Nawton School’s breakfast club.
Karlene says KickStart Breakfast creates opportunities for students to connect.
“Watching the tamariki (children) get involved, share conversations over kai (food), help each other and do the mahi (work) in clean-up is great. You see the value not only of a good breakfast, but the chance for kids to connect with each other.”
KickStart Breakfast helps students start the day happier and more settled, with a greater ability to focus on learning, according to a recent report by the Ākina Foundation, who measured the impact of the programme with in-depth research.
The report showed this led to societal benefits including better school attendance, improved behaviours, and greater educational outcomes for students.
Karlene says the programme connects the dots in many ways.
“It’s not just about filling bellies with good tucker, but also connecting kids with the awesome volunteers and parents. For me it’s a chance to connect with good sorts both inside and outside of Fonterra,” says Karlene.
Through the KickStart Breakfast programme, the Co-op is delivering good-quality dairy nutrition produced by Fonterra farmers, to give students across New Zealand the best start to their day.
“From attending a few breakfast clubs over the last while, I wish all Fonterra farmers could hear the thank-you’s and see the smiling (and sometimes cheeky) faces of the kids as they head out the door to class with a full belly,” says Karlene.
“These are our future All Blacks, Black Ferns, farmers, and robotic engineers! That is why we all do what we do.”