From athletic mats to robotics | Rural schools benefit

Rural schools have invested their annual ANZCO Foods donations on athletic mats, robotics, swimming pool covers, a bike shed, ICT costs, gardens, sunblock and much more.

In 2021 ANZCO donated more than $106,000 to rural primary schools New Zealand wide through its Sponsor a School Programme. The company works with local dairy farming families, who nominate a rural primary school to receive a donation from ANZCO, that is linked to supply.

Since the programme started in 2011, $1.2m has been contributed to rural schools, with funds spent on a huge variety of programmes and resources.

The six schools in 2021 that received the largest donation from ANZCO included:

• Dunsandel Primary School (Canterbury)
• Carew Peel Forest School (Canterbury)
• Hinds School (Canterbury)
• Rahotu Primary School (Taranaki)
• Auroa School (Taranaki) and
• Coastal Taranaki School (Taranaki)

Schools choose what they spend the money on and have the freedom to select projects or resources that will make the biggest difference to their learners.

“We are always blown away by the range of projects that schools spend the money on and we can see the difference it makes in the system. The six schools that received the largest donations got between $3500 and $5000 each,” says Shannon Parnham Head of Livestock for ANZCO.

“The donation from ANZCO makes a huge difference to the school and enables us to purchase the additional resources that make our school a better place to be,” says Catherine Hewson, Rahotu Home and School Committee.

“The ANZCO “Sponsor a School Programme” provides our business with an opportunity to put funds back into rural communities and support the young people in our regions. We’re always looking for more farmers to register for the programme because the greater the support we get from the rural community, the more we are able to contribute back to schools,” says Shannon.