Our young people face many challenges in this ever-changing world and we want to help prepare them to overcome any obstacles they might face while also empowering them to make the most of their futures. In order to give our tamariki and rangatahi the best chance in life that we can, we are asking local Western Bay of Plenty community and business leaders to take a leap of faith for us... 12,000 feet into the air!

Our annual Drop Your Boss Campaign is one of our most significant fundraisers each year and the proceeds of your generosity and support enable us to continue our programmes and reach as many schools as possible. Plus it gives you guys the opportunity to throw your boss out of a plane - win-win!

This year we are not only increasing the skydive height to 12,000ft, but we have also expanded our programmes in the region with two new Project K programmes, two new Career Navigator programmes, and new Kiwi Can schools on board. This is HUGE for us and super exciting for our young people and we need to raise as much money as possible to make sure we can continue growing and working towards our goal of making our region the best place in the world to grow up.

A bit about our programmes:

Kiwi Can is our energy-packed primary school programme, aimed at children aged 5 to 12 years. It teaches values such as integrity and respect, helps build resilience and delivers fun-filled learning to schools all around the country. It sets a foundation of values and life skills that the students take with them through school and into later life. Each student visits a Kiwi Can class once a week to enjoy a positive, uplifting environment that encourages self belief and confidence.

Stars is a Peer Mentoring programme which reaches over 400 teens in our region, helping them to form relationships, minimise bullying, make the transition to high school, manage themselves and connect with their new school and their community. Stars is a 12-month mentoring programme that supports, motivates and positively reinforces Year 9 students during their first year in secondary school.

Career Navigator helps by assisting New Zealand's young people with valuable information, options and guidance around work and life choices. Our purpose is to support young people to aim high to achieve their career goals. Career Navigator is the last step before students leave school, enter the world and embark on their career journey. This programme helps students navigate their way through the endless career opportunities presented to them. They get real world experience in fields in which they are interested in and an idea of what their future career path may look like.

Project K is a 14 month transformational journey for low self-efficacy youth involving a wilderness adventure, community service, workshops and training, and long-term mentoring from volunteer role-models. Project K impacts on a young person at an instrumental time in their lives. It focuses on building self-confidence, life skills and a healthy lifestyle through an array of outdoor activities, challenges, interaction with other young people and a positive relationship with a mentor.

Our Drop Your Boss skydives, and the fundraising they generate, benefit the thousands of young people participating in our programmes within our region and help effect a profound positive impact on their lives and the wider community. We are so proud to be a part of making this change and encourage you to join us in improving the lives of our tamariki and rangitahi.