Here in Aotearoa, one in five children are living in households where food can, and often does, run out. And as the cost of living increases, so too does the struggle for many families to put food on the table. Makaia Carr’s charity, Kura Kai, is changing those numbers.
Makaia Carr has long had a passion for supporting Māori youth in New Zealand, and after discovering the ‘compassion freezer’ concept, Carr knew she could make a direct difference to the lives of kids and their families struggling with food security. Starting the charity as a small, personally-led endeavour, Kura Kai has now grown in scale and impact, with 40 high schools and colleges equipped with Kura Kai freezers.
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Carr and the Kura Kai team (made up of volunteers) place community freezers full of nutritious, home-cooked meals in secondary schools. Each school is then responsible for identifying who needs support, distributing the meals to rangatahi and their whanau. Funds are raised via the charity to purchase the freezers, which are then filled by local community members who cook family meals to help keep them well-stocked.
The focus on secondary schools is down to what a pivotal time this is in their development, and how these years can shape the course of someone’s future depending on the choices they make. Makaia has seen first-hand how many teens across New Zealand have to leave school to support their family and put food on the table, so Kura Kai is a real, tangible way Kiwis can help in changing that outcome. Carr also saw the fridges as a way to foster a sense of community and teach rangatahi the often lost value of caring for their community, by involving them in identifying whānau that need help and to use Kura Kai as an offering to help those they see in need.
If you want to support Kura Kai, and the 20 percent of kids who don’t have food security in New Zealand, you can head to their website to donate. There are many tiers to choose from, starting at providing a meal for a family, to donating a freezer to a school, to filling a school freezer for a whole year. You can also volunteer to cook, deliver or fundraise, or attend one of the charity’s events. But no matter how you choose to donate — either money or time, you’ll be making a difference to the lives of kids going without. And we can’t think of a better cause to support.
