A worthy cause

Want to do something about child poverty? For the last few weeks, Campbell Live has been campaigning on this issue, exposing the depths of the problem and ramming home the point that whoever is at fault, it isn't the kids. They've also pushed for an obvious solution: school lunches. While many (including myself) would prefer to see this done by the government, the fact is that the Prime Minister is away playing golf on Planet Key and doesn't give a shit. Its not his kids who are hungry, and he is totally insulated from the problem at the expensive snob-schools he sends them to. To John Key, child poverty is just an abstract statistic, not a pressing social problem.

So it falls to charity to fill the gap. KidsCan is one such charity. They already provide food in schools, and they estimate they can provide a targeted programme aimed at every hungry kid in decile 1 to 4 schools for just another $1.8 million. Campbell Live is going to help them get there by holding a "lunchbox day" to raise money this Friday. Or, you can just donate directly:

If you'd rather just raise some money and stay out of the limelight, the bank account details are as follows:

KidsCan Charitable Trust: ASB BANK 12 3026 0348180 03

And you will also be able to text Lunch to 8595 from next Thursday September 27, for an automatic $3 donation to "shout a child lunch".

This is a worthy cause, and one which deserves our support. Child poverty is a blight on our society, and reducing it is an investment in our future. If the government won't make that investment, we will have to do it ourselves. And who knows? Maybe if we stand up and be counted on this, we'll shame the government into actually doing something about it. If not, well, at least we will have helped.