The Hurricanes are thrilled to announce a partnership with Eat My Lunch, an amazing social enterprise on a mission to ensure no child goes hungry at school.
For every meal purchased through the website, Eat My Lunch gives a lunch to a Kiwi kid who would otherwise go without. They call it Buy One Give One. A small gesture, with an enormous impact.
Eat My Lunch offers a full range of breakfast, lunches, salads, morning, and afternoon tea as well as grazing and gift boxes, with lots of dietary options available.
The Hurricanes men, women and management team will be enjoying Eat My Lunch meals throughout the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific and Super Rugby Aupiki season, which will also see the equivalent number of lunches given to local kids around the Hurricanes region.
Hurricanes CEO Avan Lee said he was delighted with the partnership which delivers on several levels for the club.
“I am excited to welcome Eat My Lunch into the Hurricanes family; an amazing initiative that we are very proud to support.”
“Connection is a big part of our environment and to see the players, coaches and staff eating as a group, talking and connecting is key to our values,” said Lee.
“More so, to then support Kiwi kids who are going to school hungry is something we feel really passionate about as a club. It's a fantastic way we can give back to our communities and highlight the poverty gap that unfortunately still exists.”
“Many of our players are mums and dads themselves, so bringing on a partner who is focussed on the welfare of kids and healthy eating habits is amazing. Some of our players experienced food insecurity when they were young, or know families who are struggling to provide, so this is our way to give back.”
With around 3,500 lunches given each week, and over 1.7 million lunches since 2015, the impact on kids is visibly significant with improved behaviour and attendance, feeling supported, reduced shame and better concentration.
Eat My Lunch founder, Lisa King, is extremely excited about the partnership and what it means to make a difference within the Hurricanes region.
“We’re really grateful to have a team like the Hurricanes wanting to give back in this way. It’s inspiring not only for the kids, but the whole community. There is still so much need and even more so with the impact of Covid. It’s great to see the Hurricanes taking action to make a real difference.”
The Hurricanes are looking forward to supporting Eat My Lunch so they can feed more Kiwi kids in 2022. Hurricanes players are looking forward to getting into the Eat My Lunch headquarters in Wellington to help prepare, pack, and deliver lunches to local schools and businesses around the region.
The Hurricanes want to encourage fans, members, and the community to get behind the goal of feeding an estimated 25,000 kids who go to school hungry every day.