Here for whānau

Maintaining focus can be a challenging task when hunger strikes. This is a familiar sentiment that many of us can relate to. Unfortunately, for a significant number of young people, particularly in New Zealand, hunger is a common occurrence due to food insecurity at home. Nearly one in five children in the country live in households that lack a reliable supply of nutritious food, leaving them to attend school on an empty stomach. However, Latitude 37 is stepping up to address this issue, by paying-it-forward meals to Kura Kai.

Kura Kai is an organisation that was set up to help those who for whatever reason are unable to access the food they need to thrive. Their ethos is based on manaakitanga (generosity and care for others), and their mantra is “Whānau cooking for Whānau”. Kura Kai provides partnering secondary schools with freezers that are stocked with frozen meals to hand out to young people and their whānau in the school community who, the school believes, need a healthy and nutritious meal.  

Latitude 37 is an eatery in Mount Maunganui. Usually, folk come to them to eat out and enjoy such treats as Glazed Pork Belly and Peking Duck Salad for mains and maybe an Affogato for dessert. This time, though, Latitude 37 paid-it-forward 30 frozen meals to Kura Kai to be distributed to our schools. That’s generosity in action! Kura Kai was very grateful for the support.

Helping Latitude 37 fill the freezers were corporate partners S&L Land Specialists, and Mount Mainstreet, Mount Maunganui’s business association.

If you’re able to eat out, why not try Latitude 37? They’re at 181 Maunganui Road in Mount Maunganui, and they’d love to serve you some of their unique dishes. You can also add to the pay-it-forwards when you come to pay your bill as well.

If you’re not in the BOP, head to our marketplace 👇 to see where else you can pay-it-forward.