Sizzling a few snags can serve schools well when fundraising, but dishing up dollars on a regular basis can really bring home the bacon… or the daily bread.
Cooked up locally, an innovative idea, Dollar for Schools, is now feeding a need across the country, as Howick’s Mark Steele confirms.
“While arranging lunch helper rosters, ordering sausages and trying to make PTA meetings interesting we thought ‘there must be a better way’,” he says.
“We knew parents appreciate school lunches, so if we could help provide these with the margin to give the school a meaningful amount of money, it could be a good business.
“We really liked the idea of assisting schools with the biggest issue all – lack of funding.”
Providing a regular, sustainable funding programme for schools without the need one off events, while marshalling volunteers in the process, led Mark and Renee Steele to set their sights on school lunches.
With food delivered in time for lunch, labelled for each student and packed into classroom bags, Dollar for Schools’ aims to deliver a complete service, Renee explains.
“Schools can choose between well-known and trusted suppliers such as St Pierre’s Sushi, Subway, Domino’s, Hell Pizza and others.
“Deliveries can be made weekly or as one-offs, to see how it goes. We focus on making sure our service is a ‘no brainer’ for all concerned including parents, schools and suppliers.”
Generating more than $70,000 in sponsorship for east Auckland schools in its first two years, the initiative has grown to operate throughout Auckland, Hamilton and the South Island.
Mark and Renee expect the programme will become the largest sponsor of NZ schools and a most valued customer to its suppliers.
Dollar for Schools has been embraced by food suppliers as their platform of choice for school lunches due to its ease of use, it benefits local food businesses too, Renee adds.
“We’re keen to talk to any schools that want to offer popular lunch choices and generate a regular sustainable income.
“More information is available at www.dollarforschools.co.nz.”
