An iconic charity is urgently calling for more funding to keep running their educational free Tidy Kiwi programmes.
Keep New Zealand Beautiful, Aotearoa's oldest environmental not-for-profit organisation, has been running since 1967 and could see their programmes in schools become a thing of the past.
It comes as the Government grant they received in 2021 is about to come to an end, which means the charity is fighting to stay afloat beyond Term 2.
The charity is even being forced to sell their branded Kombi van to help with the costs.
Keep New Zealand Beautiful CEO Heather Saunderson spoke with AM on Monday, where she stressed the importance of the programmes for Kiwis.
"We have probably the largest and most comprehensive environmental education framework, so we provide education not only to little kids, high school students and university students," she stressed.
Saunderson described the programmes as providing "a life-long learning process."
"We also know that a lot of children have climate anxiety, so a lot of our programmes are focused on climate-conscious change."
She admitted she was surprised at the drop of funding.
"Prior to 2021 we had not had these educational programmes for one, so, part of our mandate with that grant was to build up our educational programmes, and to enter into a third of the schools in New Zealand."
Despite the charity being named in the Litter Act 1979 as "the body primarily responsible for the promotion of litter control in New Zealand", they receive no guaranteed funding from the Government.
When asked what schools and the country lose if the funding stops, Saunderson said: "I think the point of differentiation between what we do and other service providers, is that we don't charge schools, so everything that we do is for free, including clean up week, which had over 70,000 volunteers last year".
"We facilitate workshops with them, provide all the materials for them with no cost, and we are more focused on filling in the gaps," she explained.
She said the programmes look at "marginalised communities and social equity".
Saunderson admitted this means a drop in funding could result in schools only running the programme if they are able to afford them.
"We're asking for $150,000 from the public. If every Kiwi donated $1 we would be able to continue these educational endeavors for 24 years."
Saunderson said discussions will be held with the Government when they deliver Budget 2024 in May.
