It always sticks with me. "What did you have to eat last night?" I asked an upset kid at interval, as I tried to get to the bottom of what was going on. "Red soup," he said. "Tomato soup?" I asked. If only.
Julie Chapman founded KidsCan 14 years ago. She says "things are pretty grim for families" the charity works with - now more than ever. There has been "no let up" in need between Rotorua, Taupō, and Tokoroa.
An increasing number of children are turning up hungry and shoeless to school as the cost of living for some families in New Zealand proves too hard to handle.
"We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say 'it's not my child, it's not my community, not my world, not my problem.' Then there are those who see the need and respond.
In New Zealand, it's not uncommon for young kids to attend kindergarten or daycare without having breakfast and bringing a packed lunch – around 27 per cent of Kiwi kids are living in income poverty, according to the Child Poverty Monitor from 2017.
OPINION: "Dearest Aroha, I am sending you this email because I am desperate. I know KidsCan helps schools and I think it is amazing. We have very poor children … we've had children faint from hunger.
KidsCan 
