Kids Going To School Hungry in NZ

It boggles my mind that in New Zealand we can't manage to ensure that every child gets breakfast, especially given that we as individuals donate so much to support starving children overseas. Are we just ignorant about the problems or do we choose to pretend that all is for the best in this country.

Today's Herald has this:

"A children's lobby group says New Zealanders should stop blaming the parents of hungry children and allow their tax money to be used to feed children in the poorest schools."More at NZ Herald

It also has two other related reports More Schools Feeding Children with more information on the failure in childs lives and this report on how Dominos has stepped up after rival Hell Pizza backed out of a sponsorship deal for kidscan as they had doubts about exactly how much of their money actually got to kids.

There's another article on a charity that feeds children:

"Takanini mother of five Bronca Fox started feeding hungry children from a local caravan park who came to her door a decade ago. Today, her charity feeds 250 children at five local schools."

Neither corporate sponsorship nor charity, of course are the answer here. We need to set up reliable systems that will ensure the children are fed and that, unfortunately given today's reality, means it has to be a properly funded professional exercise. $14 million divided by 2 million tax payers is $7 each a small price to pay to help the most needing of our citizens.

I'm not interested at the moment in getting into the reasons why parents can't feed their children. This isn't the time to look for blame, this is the time to act.