Wellington school benefits from Medibank grant

Wellington school benefits from Medibank grant

Children at a small, inner-city Wellington school will soon be able to grow their own vegetables and enjoy communal meals thanks to a grant from the Medibank Community Fund.

Moriah College Primary School, a predominantly Jewish school close to the CBD, is one of four New Zealand organisations awarded grants totalling $50,000.

Medibank General Manager New Zealand, Davis Lemke, says the grants are aimed at helping people in the community to connect with and support one another, and live healthy lifestyles.

“As a health company, Medibank sees every day the stress families and individuals are placed under when someone becomes isolated or unwell. We hope the grants will help people to stay connected, be active and choose healthy food.”

Moriah College Principal, Maria Lloyd, says the $10,500 grant will be used to fund the school’s ‘garden to table’ project, which is designed to foster a love of growing vegetables and eating unprocessed food.

“It will provide a wonderful opportunity for a small school to put into practice the values that we live by and to enable the children to participate in the various festivals we observe.”

Ms Lloyd says the money will be used to develop an outdoor area that will include seating and several planters in which the children will grow vegetables and herbs. It will also pay for a large table for communal meals and an oven and some kitchen equipment so children can become more involved in preparing food for festivals.

“We are a tiny school with very limited resources so we are grateful to Medibank for providing this opportunity to improve our grounds and enhance our teachings,” Ms Lloyd said.

Applications for the 2011/2012 grants are now open, and community groups are urged to apply. Applications can be downloaded from the Medibank Community Fund website: www.medibankcf.co.nz.

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