A food delivery business that touts a buy-one-give-one model to feed hungry children in New Zealand is expanding to Christchurch after a similar business announced plans to bow out there.
Over the past three years, Eat My Lunch has handed out more than 870,000 free lunches to 82 low-decile schools in Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington. But in Canterbury, local business Fill Their Lunchbox had been filling the void, having donated 54,000 lunches to disadvantaged children at a dozen local schools since 2015.
Fill Their Lunchbox’s fortunes have recently changed, however. The company closed last week, with company founder and chef Ben Atkinson revealing on a Facebook post that he had struggled to pay his own rent on some weeks so he could keep the endeavour afloat.
"It's a sad announcement, but at the same time, we don't see it as a failure," he said. "We've been able to give them the opportunity to learn on an equal playing field to other kids that typically get to eat well every day.
"We've given them a chance to understand that there's actually people out there that care about them and that hope they're doing okay.''
Atkinson told Stuff he is relived the spirit of his endeavour will carry on with Eat My Lunch, a company he is "on the same page" with.
The WBO heavyweight champ has teamed up with Eat My Lunch, who feed 1600 underprivileged children across the country every day. (Source: Other)
Eat My Lunch has formed a "short term" partnership with Foodstuffs – which owns New World, Pak 'nSave and Four Square – as it works to get established on the South Island, delivering meals to children five days a week, according to Stuff.
"Together with Eat My Lunch we will work to build on what Fill Their Lunchbox started," Foodstuffs chief executive Steve Anderson told Stuff.
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