What we're hearing at Target Road School

Principal Fina Hallman sat down with us to share what's changed for her students and their families, and the impact has gone far beyond what she expected.

Before KidsCan arrived, staff were regularly stepping in to provide lunches for hungry children. Some students were trying to get through the school day on an empty stomach, while others didn't make it to school at all.

Now, Target Road's Hot Lunch Club feeds between 30 and 40 children a day.

What started as a way to make sure kids weren't hungry has grown into something much bigger. "Older students help younger ones carry their food to the table. Everyone pitches in to clean up afterwards." Fina describes it as feeling like one big family.

The results are showing up in the numbers too. Term 2 2026 attendance at Target Road is 10 percent higher than Term 2 2025, a difference Fina puts down in part to KidsCan.

"I know that some of that is down to KidsCan, because the kids are just saying, oh I love coming to school for the lunches," she says.

Once the clothing and food support were in place, Fina began to see a need she hadn't fully recognised before. "Some of the families that came forward, I hadn't realised were in financial hardship," Fina says.

"There's more need within our school community than I'd originally anticipated." It's a reminder that hardship isn't always visible, even to the people closest to a school community.

One family in particular stands out to her. A student who previously came to school two or three days a week is now there every single day since the start of term.

Fina has also noticed a shift in some of her quieter students. "Some of our tamariki might have felt a sense of shame about what was in their lunchboxes," she says. "They can either become really brash about it or become really withdrawn." Since joining the lunch club, some of those children have started opening up.

For the parents she hears from, the difference is just as real. "The emails that we've had from parents are just so thankful," Fina says. "It's just eased a load for them, that they're not having to buy that kai for the children to come into school." One family in particular has told her they now have breathing room. "It means that there is money to spend on other things," she says.

Alongside the food, KidsCan jackets, shoes and socks have made their own mark. "The sense of pride," she recalls one student who received the first pair of shoes and jacket. "He actually went back into his classroom going, I've got the new school jacket on."

"To see his mana rise was just incredible."

Fina has a simple message for the donors who helped Target Road come off the KidsCan waitlist.

"I would say the hugest, hugest, hugest ngā mihi, thank you," she says. "Your donations are like a big hug to every single child across Aotearoa that benefits from the KidsCan programme."

For anyone still weighing up whether to donate, Fina has a simple answer.

Click here to make a donation.