Schools are warning of rising hunger in classrooms as Kiwi families struggle to make ends meet as the cost-of-living crunch tightens.

KidsCan has announced an urgent appeal to help feed vulnerable children across the country, with the charity launching 20 for 20, calling on Kiwis to donate $20 for the 20% of the country’s children living with food insecurity.

Founder and chief executive Julie Chapman said the initiative was designed to help ease the mounting pressure on struggling families.

“Children shouldn’t have to worry about being hungry or where their next meal is coming from.”

In a survey of 400 New Zealand partner schools, KidsCan identified food support as the most significant issue facing Kiwi children, with 84% of households facing extreme financial pressure.

Chapman said food budgets had become “discretionary” for many Kiwis amid other rising costs.

“Families are in survival mode essentially, and the kids are the ones that are impacted the most, especially when there’s not enough food at home.”

KidsCan founder and CEO Julie Chapman. Photo / Supplied

Cost-of-living pressures have been mounting since February when the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran, sending oil prices to skyrocket.

Prior to the war, food prices were already climbing.

Food prices shot up 4.5% in the year to February, with beef mince up a whopping 23.2% to $24.46 per kilogram.

Electricity and gas prices have continued to rise last month, with prices for electricity up 13.1% annually and 2.4% monthly, according to the latest Selected Price Index from Stats NZ.

The 20 for 20 initiative will help fund a range of food items for the charity’s partner schools, including breakfast staples, snacks, and heat-and-eat meals.

Auckland’s Beach Haven Primary School is one of those partners, using KidsCan supplies to run a morning breakfast club for vulnerable students.

Principal Stephanie Thompson said she had seen an uptick in the number of students needing lunch or snacks over the last 18 months.

She believes this need increases in the lead-up to payday or around the due date for bills.

“People need to make decisions about food or putting petrol in their car to get to work,” she said. “That should never be a decision you have to make.”

She said food insecurity was situational, and with a “perfect storm” of global, national and local problems, most Kiwis were really only one pay ay away from hardship.

“It doesn’t hit everybody at the same time, and it can strike any whānau at any time. Having a little bit of grace in this space is really important.”

She is urging Kiwi companies and businesses to get behind the appeal and donate a little to support families struggling to put food on the table.

Beach Haven Primary School principal Stephanie Thompson says the initiative goes a long way to support struggling families. Photo / Beach Haven Primary School

The impact of coming to school hungry can have serious lifelong consequences, a spokesperson for Child Poverty Action Group warned.

“These children are likely to have poorer health overall, have their growth and development disrupted, and suffer from illness more often, as well as face social isolation.

“Let me be clear: food insecurity is not a short-term consequence of material hardship. It is a life-altering failure of our system that can change the entire trajectory of someone’s life.”

The spokesperson said the appeal comes as New Zealand has reached its highest rate of material hardship in a decade, with 170,000 children around the motu going without.

“In a country that grows enough food to feed 40 million people every year, it is unthinkable that we leave even one child to go hungry.

“Programmes like KidsCan’s 20 for 20 are more than just charity: they are critical interventions to give children a better shot at a brighter future.”