Last week I was invited to a breakfast launch of Westpac's sponsorship of the Mana-a-Riki programme. This programme is run by the Middlemore Foundation which supports the Kootuitui Cluster through the provision of funding for aspects of our work. At this breakfast were a number of Westpac employees, people representing other community funding organisations, representatives from the Middlemore Foundation, the health sector and our own educational institutions.
There was an enormous amount of goodwill in the room to get behind this initiative. But as I looked around I realised one important thing: that the community all these people were here to support was not very well represented. Yes, there was the chair of our Trust, two school principals, two board of trustees chairmen. But where were the people of this community whose children attend our schools? While never under-valuing the leaders of our community who are driving this programme, it will be good to see the 'ordinary' people; the recipients; the mums and dads who are paying their $3.75 per week to purchase a chromebook for their child; in the room as real people rather than just statistics.
Last week I was invited to a breakfast launch of Westpac's sponsorship of the Mana-a-Riki programme. This programme is run by the Middlemore Foundation which supports the Kootuitui Cluster through the provision of funding for aspects of our work. At this breakfast were a number of Westpac employees, people representing other community funding organisations, representatives from the Middlemore Foundation, the health sector and our own educational institutions.
There was an enormous amount of goodwill in the room to get behind this initiative. But as I looked around I realised one important thing: that the community all these people were here to support was not very well represented. Yes, there was the chair of our Trust, two school principals, two board of trustees chairmen. But where were the people of this community whose children attend our schools? While never under-valuing the leaders of our community who are driving this programme, it will be good to see the 'ordinary' people; the recipients; the mums and dads who are paying their $3.75 per week to purchase a chromebook for their child; in the room as real people rather than just statistics.
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