Assisting children in need in the Horowhenua

We are senior students from Waiopehu College in Levin.

We are making a big effort to get involved with our community by helping people who are less fortunate than us. We are doing so via our involvement in our Rotary Interact club, Student Council, Social Studies or Food and Nutrition class.

Whilst Levin is a great place to live, it's a place with significant challenges. For example, the Horowhenua district currently has the highest at risk youth percentage in Central New Zealand, at 28.5%.

61% of local policing is spent dealing with domestic violence.

The average income is $21,800, which is below the New Zealand average of $28,500

This means that a lot of the children living in the Horowhenua district are not having their basic needs met as per the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

This is where we are trying to help by undertaking over 25 projects within our community over the next 12 months.

Our first major project is our aim of donating backpacks full of possessions to children as they transition into foster care. This is a very scary and unsettling time for the children in our area, and we intend to make this experience as comfortable as possible. We are aiming to put together 15-30 backpacks for children aged 3-10. (This has now been successfully completed)

The other projects that we are currently undertaking or have completed this year are:

• Constructing and marketing buddy benches to primary schools for isolated students to be scooped up by their peers

• Providing students to volunteer for the Radio Reading Service as readers on Thursday mornings.

• Mobilising men/boys to sign the White Ribbon Pledge, which is a set of guidelines that men make a commitment to, acknowledging that they will endeavour to treat women with respect in all aspects of life at all times.

* Continual development of our community garden (accessible by everyone in the Horowhenua community)

• Native tree planting at Lake Papaitonga (in conjunction with the Department of Conservation).

• Creating social media film clips for the Human Rights Commission’s Give nothing to Racism campaign.

• Creating a giving tree at the school for Christmas in which the school community (and public) provide a present that corresponds with a label they remove from the tree for a person in need within our community.

* The completion of one international project, which is likely to be either the pygmy elephant appeal or disaster relief for countries in need.

• Providing healthy food to our community through the creation of seed discs for planting in our early childhood centres, donating produce from our school vegetable garden to the community and making healthy frozen meals to donate to those in need. Sponge kitchen and Home Cookery have also given us assistance here.

• Fundraising to donate to the Chopper appeal, RSA Poppy Day, Daffodil Day, Heart Foundation, Canteen and our own student benevolent fund.

• Assisting Rotary International in gathering food for the Horowhenua Foodbank.

• Recycling around 120 cubic metres of paper a year in exchange for 60 native trees planted on our ground to beautify the College and attract native birds.

• The organisation of guest speakers to talk to our school community from the Student Volunteer Army, Trade Aid and Disaster Relief Organisers.

• Participating in the 40hr Famine and donating money to organisations who are providing child-friendly spaces in refugee camps.

• The completion of a full day cleaning the beach of litter between Waiterere and Foxton.

• Providing students to volunteer at Toddler Playgroups in Levin.