28 September 2009

KickStart breakfasts win Social Heroes award

Auckland, New Zealand
Jacqui Roper

The KickStart Breakfast program, recently established by Sanitarium and Fonterra, has been recognised by New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key as the "Best New Initiative" at the annual Prime Minister's Social Heroes Awards in July.

These awards acknowledge businesses supporting charitable purposes, with many important programs nominated each year.

Sanitarium and Fonterra are helping kids in almost 300 schools across New Zealand "kick-start" the day with free Weet-Bix and Anchor Mega Milk, providing breakfast to participating schools up to twice a week.

The program, established at the start of this year, uses a community partnership model, where Sanitarium and Fonterra provide cereal and milk while the local school community coordinates the preparation and delivery each week to students who may otherwise go without breakfast.

"We see KickStart Breakfast as a natural partner to our annual Sanitarium Weet-Bix Tryathlon series," says Pierre van Heerden, General Manager of Sanitarium in New Zealand. "While we are responding to a clear social need, we are also interested in helping develop good long-term attitudes and behaviours of Kiwi kids, helping them form healthy habits for a lifetime."

Fonterra Chairman Henry van der Heyden says the award reflects the strength of the partnership between the two companies and the schools across New Zealand who together help the program reach 12,000 children in low-decile schools every week.

"The real reward for us is knowing that we're able to give kids a healthy start to the day to support their learning," says Mr van der Heyden.

KickStart Breakfast is one way Sanitarium and Fonterra are giving back to communities in which they operate and is part of Sanitarium's commitment to promoting health and nutrition.

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