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

    Anonymous pledger
    20/02/2016 at 11:39am

    "Fantastic job, you are really making a difference, thank you.. "

    Andrea
    20/02/2016 at 11:09am
    Kelly Tye
    20/02/2016 at 10:24am
    Sara J Foote
    20/02/2016 at 9:53am
    Anonymous pledger
    20/02/2016 at 9:44am
    Clare Palmer
    20/02/2016 at 9:32am
    James Gurnsey
    20/02/2016 at 9:30am
    Laura Weaver
    20/02/2016 at 9:10am
    Marine Crossan Ellingham
    20/02/2016 at 8:57am

    "Here's to you Ben and your most worthy cause."

    Anonymous pledger
    20/02/2016 at 8:46am
    Tara Taukiri
    20/02/2016 at 8:32am

    "Great stuff!! "

    Anonymous pledger
    19/02/2016 at 11:25pm
    Kandi Francois
    19/02/2016 at 10:25pm

    "Good on you. Stepping up and doing what the rest of NZ should be doing I take my hat off to ya! "

    Anthony Patete
    19/02/2016 at 10:07pm
    Anonymous pledger
    19/02/2016 at 9:50pm

    "Lad, you're an inspiration "

    Anonymous pledger
    19/02/2016 at 8:45pm
    Sarah
    19/02/2016 at 8:09pm

    "This is an amazing thing to do!!!! "

    Lesley Hamel
    19/02/2016 at 7:26pm

    "Very worthy initiative. Keep up the good work Ben"

    Alicia
    19/02/2016 at 6:54pm
    lana
    19/02/2016 at 6:41pm
    Anna Bleyendaal
    19/02/2016 at 6:29pm

    "So proud of this work Ben! You're such a star, hope I can help xx"

    Mike Sneddon
    19/02/2016 at 6:11pm

    "Awesome initiative Ben, good luck! - From Mike, Sim and Leo"

    Ushma Shah
    19/02/2016 at 6:08pm
    Anonymous pledger
    19/02/2016 at 5:54pm

    "Yay!! This is absolutely amazing! Go you Ben!!"

    Tasneem Gould
    19/02/2016 at 5:35pm

    "Great initiative! Good luck Ben. "

    Danielle Steer
    19/02/2016 at 5:32pm
    Sammy
    19/02/2016 at 5:24pm
    Jana Roberts
    19/02/2016 at 5:22pm
    Annette jimmink
    19/02/2016 at 5:13pm

    "Ben I have known you your whole life. You are a real hero. I hope everyone get behind you. "

    Lora Sheard
    19/02/2016 at 5:11pm

    "This is a great cause. No kids should go hungry in NZ ever. Help Ben Digger feed kids lunch so they can learn and escape the poverty cycle."

    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

     

      Anonymous pledger
      20/02/2016 at 11:39am

      "Fantastic job, you are really making a difference, thank you.. "

      Andrea
      20/02/2016 at 11:09am
      Kelly Tye
      20/02/2016 at 10:24am
      Sara J Foote
      20/02/2016 at 9:53am
      Anonymous pledger
      20/02/2016 at 9:44am
      Clare Palmer
      20/02/2016 at 9:32am
      James Gurnsey
      20/02/2016 at 9:30am
      Laura Weaver
      20/02/2016 at 9:10am
      Marine Crossan Ellingham
      20/02/2016 at 8:57am

      "Here's to you Ben and your most worthy cause."

      Anonymous pledger
      20/02/2016 at 8:46am
      Tara Taukiri
      20/02/2016 at 8:32am

      "Great stuff!! "

      Anonymous pledger
      19/02/2016 at 11:25pm
      Kandi Francois
      19/02/2016 at 10:25pm

      "Good on you. Stepping up and doing what the rest of NZ should be doing I take my hat off to ya! "

      Anthony Patete
      19/02/2016 at 10:07pm
      Anonymous pledger
      19/02/2016 at 9:50pm

      "Lad, you're an inspiration "

      Anonymous pledger
      19/02/2016 at 8:45pm
      Sarah
      19/02/2016 at 8:09pm

      "This is an amazing thing to do!!!! "

      Lesley Hamel
      19/02/2016 at 7:26pm

      "Very worthy initiative. Keep up the good work Ben"

      Alicia
      19/02/2016 at 6:54pm
      lana
      19/02/2016 at 6:41pm
      Anna Bleyendaal
      19/02/2016 at 6:29pm

      "So proud of this work Ben! You're such a star, hope I can help xx"

      Mike Sneddon
      19/02/2016 at 6:11pm

      "Awesome initiative Ben, good luck! - From Mike, Sim and Leo"

      Ushma Shah
      19/02/2016 at 6:08pm
      Anonymous pledger
      19/02/2016 at 5:54pm

      "Yay!! This is absolutely amazing! Go you Ben!!"

      Tasneem Gould
      19/02/2016 at 5:35pm

      "Great initiative! Good luck Ben. "

      Danielle Steer
      19/02/2016 at 5:32pm
      Sammy
      19/02/2016 at 5:24pm
      Jana Roberts
      19/02/2016 at 5:22pm
      Annette jimmink
      19/02/2016 at 5:13pm

      "Ben I have known you your whole life. You are a real hero. I hope everyone get behind you. "

      Lora Sheard
      19/02/2016 at 5:11pm

      "This is a great cause. No kids should go hungry in NZ ever. Help Ben Digger feed kids lunch so they can learn and escape the poverty cycle."

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