Massive $500,000 grant handed out for much-needed sporting equipment

October 20, 2020

Applicants to KidsCan, which helped distribute the funds, made $6 million worth of requests.

Cadbury has given out a $500,000 grant to buy much-needed sporting equipment for kids in need.

Applicants to KidsCan, which helped distribute the funds, made $6 million worth of requests.

Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Matai was one of the lucky recipients, with part of the money going towards new rugby posts. 

“The posts must have been remnants from the old posts that might have been there more than 50 years ago,” principal Angie Wihapi-Priest said.

“One side might have been three quarters of a post, the other side was probably about one quarter of a post - that was it.”

KidsCan's Julie Chapman said it was “hard to choose” where to allocate the money, with some of the successful applicants calling for basketball hoops and "surfboards for a school that is close to the beach but their kids were never able to go".

“We literally did have around $6 million of applications for a pool of money that was half a million,” Chapman said.

“We really looked carefully around where those grants were going to make the biggest difference and I think we've got it right.”

Sevens stars Timmy Mikkelson and Kelly Brazier were called in to do the honours of installing the posts. 

"They said they haven't had posts for 20 years here and I couldn't really believe it when you come down and we put them up, see the kids' faces and not just this school but the whole community's going to get awesome value out of this," Mikkelson said. 

Brazier said it was a reminder not to take things for granted. 

"Being part of our national team, it's something we get given so when you turn up here and they're not fazed, they’re just running around with their bare feet," Brazier added. 

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