On Monday one lucky student ate the 25,000th meal provided free of charge to students at Linwood College this term. The project titled 'Lunches for Linwood' has been going for nine weeks, and will end on the 15th of July.
Linwood College has been site sharing with Cashmere High School due to earthquake damage to their campus from the February 22 earthquake. The journey can add up to three hours per day for students commuting across town.
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Linwood College students attend classes from 1pm – 5.30pm daily returning home well after dark. The provision of free lunches has provided welcome relief to students and their families dealing with the alternate routine during a cold winter in Christchurch.
Each day 350 lunches are served to students at Linwood College before they bus across to Cashmere and then a further 250 lunches are served at the Cashmere High School campus to students whose buses come directly from other areas including Sumner and Lyttleton.
School principal Margaret Paiti has reported a constant flow of feedback from students, parents and teachers confirming that the provision of lunches has been making a huge difference for Linwood College students.
The project was funded by an initial donation of $50,000 and a further $6,000 donation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The funds are from the Church's Humanitarian Fund that is donated to by members of local and international congregations.
Local Church Leader Maurice McDonald reported that the Lunches for Linwood Project was one of a number of community projects that the Church of Jesus Christ has been involved with supporting Christchurch earthquake relief. Other projects have included provision of water containers to eastern Christchurch, hundreds of volunteer hours, clean up projects and financial donations to the three mayoral funds in Canterbury.
For further information please contact Melanie Riwai-Couch, mobile 021 981107 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .