Project fosters generosity

Cambridge Middle School students Ella Millar and Aidan Tidd have collected bag-fulls of goodies for Kids in Need Waikato.

After meeting Kids in Need Waikato co-founder Linda Roil and collecting for her charity this term, Aidan Tidd and Ella Millar have a new appreciation for the struggles many foster children face.

“They could be kids whose parents are abusive to them, or they’ve been kicked out because of drug use, or their parents aren’t in a good state to stay with them all the time…and when they’re being taken to their new home they go with literally nothing,” said Aidan, 12.

“Some of these kids have had no birthday presents, no Christmas presents, nothing.  So don’t take your stuff for granted.  Think about the other kids.  Think about how they feel.”

Kids in Need Waikato is a Cambridge-based charity founded by Graeme and Linda Roil that provides care packs for children in care, personalised to meet each child’s needs.

Aidan and Ella, who are in the same year 8 class at Cambridge Middle School, independently came up with the idea of colleting items for the organisation after they were challenged to create an innovation project to work on throughout term 2.

When they found out they had the same brainwave they decided to team up to “make a bigger impact”.

They made posters, visited every classroom in the school and took their campaign to the wider community through Facebook.

They also invited Linda Roil to school to talk to their syndicate, which Aidan felt had “brought more kindness into the school”.

Last week their classroom became a collection point for donated clothes, shoes, toys, books and school bags, and personal care products such as toothbrushes, toothpaste and soap.

Items flooded in, filling more than 20 supermarket shopping bags.

“We’ve had a lot of support from everyone; it’s just overwhelming how much we’ve collected and how much people care for those kids,” Aidan said.

Ella said one parent alone had brought in 5-8 bags of clothes, toys and bathroom products, and a teacher had donated a baby change table.

“It’s crazy how much people care and how much one person can do to help charity and people in need,” she said.

Aidan and Ella’s teacher, Jacira de Hoog, said the students had worked hard to improve an aspect of their community and had set themselves apart with their selfless actions.

More Recent News

It’s great to create

Lori Neels describes quilting as “cheaper than therapy.” The award-winning quilter is part of the Cambridge Patchwork and Craft group which meet every fortnight at the Taylor Made Community Space. Members displayed the results of…

Scout’s honour for Riley

Riley Willmoth is a prize-winning tramper. The 14-year-old Cambridge Scout Group member and Cambridge High School pupil walked away from this year’s Scouts Aotearoa Waikato Zone Velocity Venturer Programme Course with a prize for an…

Taut on the recruiting front

A Waipā principal says schools are struggling to recruit teachers and the fields of applicants is as thin as he has seen in 25 years in the role. “High quality experienced teachers are increasingly difficult…

Catherine’s horses and pet projects

Cambridge may be small by international standards, but a surprising number of artists with global reach call the town home. The extent of that talent will be on display this weekend at the Passion for…