Pre-loved sports gear appeal makes its first donation in Far North

• Published date: 23 June 2022

At one of the school’s first assemblies since before COVID, a special pōwhiri (welcoming ceremony) and haka were performed and heartfelt gratitude expressed for the Far North’s first donation from The Lentil Intervention’s Pre-Loved Sports Gear Appeal

Following the ceremony, boxes and bags brimming with shoes, jackets, hoodies, T-shirts, field hockey equipment, thermals and drink bottles were presented, bringing visible delight to 160 tamariki and their teachers.

Principal Sacha Williams exclaimed the event felt like Christmas.

“This is very exciting. I can see lots of eyes that want to get into this,” she laughed.

Williams explained that the school had recently lost some of its sports gear due to theft.

It was this unfortunate event that led Angelina Wakarua of Sport Northland to choose Oturu School, along with Kaikohe Christian School, to each receive half a carload of sports gear.

As a Healthy Active Learning Facilitator at Sport Northland, Wakarua works with schools in the Far North and knows just about all of them could use more sports gear.

“It’s tough for our kids. Priorities understandably go away from a pair of shoes,” said Wakarua.

“If kids don’t have the right shoes, they shy away from playing.

“When they go out and play sport and if they have the gear, they feel good.

“It’s a confidence booster for kids.”

As soon as Wakarua heard from Ben Eitelberg, co-founder of The Lentil Intervention (TLI), she knew the opportunity would be huge for Far North kids.

While TLI educates people about improving personal and planetary health through lifestyle changes, Eitelberg started The Pre-Loved Sports Gear Appeal in 2012 after realising how much perfectly good sports gear was going to waste.

As an endurance athlete who has represented New Zealand and South Africa, he saw the problem of upgrading to new gear each season piling up in his very own closet.

The appeal started as an annual initiative but is now one of TLI’s campaigns and a...