Overview
Wellingtonians will soon be able to participate in Eat My Lunch, the social enterprise business which has given 262,000 lunches to kids in low decile schools in Auckland and Hamilton since June 2015. The premise is simple: you buy one, they give one. For every purchase of a commercial lunch, Eat My Lunch delivers a lunch to a kid who would otherwise go hungry.
29% of Kiwi kids live in poverty, and thousands head to school every day on empty stomachs with nothing in their lunchboxes. Eat My Lunch aims to alleviate this nationwide issue, through something as routine as eating lunch.
"We have wanted to expand Eat My Lunch since day one and have received so many requests from Kiwis all around New Zealand to set up in their area. Opening in Wellington will enable us to grow the business, give more lunches and have a Lower North Island hub that has the facilities to make both buy and give lunches," says Eat My Lunch founder Lisa King. "The feedback we've had from schools receiving our GIVE lunches is incredible. It changes the way teachers engage with kids. No longer is time taken up ensuring the kids are feed so they can learn, instead the focus is back on learning."
King works in cahoots with award-winning chef Michael Meredith, who creates the delicious lunch recipes. The focus is on less sugar, more veggies— but always nutritious, fresh food. Wellington's operations are based in premises kindly supported by L'affare Café. Each lunchbox is made up of four elements, and all about variety and surprise. Since their launch, they've extended their options: vegetarians, gluten-free requirements, extra-hungry people and gourmets are also catered for in the menu. For those who are time poor or want to do good but aren't sure how, Eat My Lunch is an obvious start toward social change.
You can start by ordering your lunch today through their subscription service on the Eat My Lunch website. The first delivery will go out on Monday, 17 October.
Eat My Lunch is also looking for volunteers to help out in their kitchens for each day's preparations. You can find details on their site.