Costly Utterances
OPINION: A costly out-of-court settlement has hit dual-listed processor a2 Milk Company.
As a major partner, a2MC will contribute $130,000 per year for an initial term of three years to assist the funding of KidsCan programmes and will co-ordinate volunteering by staff and friends to help KidsCan deliver on its important mission.
KidsCan assists those experiencing hardship by providing food, jackets and health items to schools/kura and early childhood centres/kohanga across New Zealand. With these essentials, kids can participate in learning and have the opportunity for a better future.
“We are absolutely delighted to be partnering with KidsCan to support a programme whose objectives and values are so closely related to our own,” says a2MC managing director and chief executive Officer David Bortolussi.
“Just as KidsCan is focused on helping kids to conquer disadvantage and live their best lives, a2MC is focused on helping people build a better life, starting with a strong nutritional foundation from infancy onwards.”
a2MC’s support will be applied to helping to fund the ongoing costs of KidsCan’s early childhood programme.
It will initially be targeted to regions where the company has direct staff and/or operational ties – Auckland (where a2MC’s New Zealand head office is located), and Canterbury (where Synlait Milk, a2MC’s manufacturing partner for the New Zealand, Australia and China infant milk formula markets, is based). KidsCan currently also supports schools in Southland, where Mataura Valley Milk, in which a2MC has a 75% interest, is located.
KidsCan supports more than 850 schools and more than 150 early childhood centres across New Zealand; over 200,000 children access its programmes.
KidsCan chief executive and founder, Julie Chapman, is grateful to a2 Milk Company.
“It’s a particularly tough time for families living in poverty, who are being hard hit by the soaring cost of living. The a2 Milk Company’s support of our early childhood programme will make a great difference to vulnerable children at a crucial time in their development,” says Chapman.
