KidsCan Charitable Trust

Every child deserves to be warm, comfortable and fed - but 1 in 7 Kiwi kids are living in material hardship and missing out on the essentials*. Kids can’t focus in class if they didn’t eat the night before, and they can’t participate if they’re shivering or wet from walking to school with no jacket or shoes.

Founded on a belief that education is the key to a brighter future, New Zealand charity KidsCan provides food, shoes and jackets so children can arrive at school ready and able to learn. The goal is to ensure poverty no longer stands between them and the chance to reach their full potential.

KidsCan helps children through the schools and early childhood centres it partners with. Whatever else is going on in their lives, tamariki are guaranteed Heart Foundation-endorsed food to sustain them throughout the day; clothing to keep them warm and dry; and health products like nit combs and nit treatment to keep them healthy and regularly attending school.

This support is there for as long as children need it – right from early childhood education (ECE) through to high school in some cases. KidsCan now partners with more than 1,100 schools and ECEs nationwide.

None of this would be possible without the generous support of our community: our fundraisers, donors and business partners. It certainly does take a village to raise a child.

*2024 Statistics NZ Report