YES National Awards
The Governor-General, Sir Jerry Mateparae, pictured with the Lion Foundation YES Company of the Year supreme winners, from Caring & Co at Manurewa High School. Pictured from left: Simon Whyte, Lance Hutchinson, Anita Keestra, Kayla Picknel, Emma O’Riordan, Lt Gen Rt Hon Sir Jerry Mateparae, Lar Su’a, Kulgan Flynn, Guang Liu Chu, and Ryan King.
Citation: The students from Caring & Co were looking for a way to care for their community. They created their own Extra Virgin Olive Oil, “Unique Drizzle”. The olive fruit was handpicked on Waiheke Island and the oil is of a very high standard - winning “Gold” and “Best in Class” in the Los Angeles International Olive Oil Competition. Caring & Co have teamed up with one of New Zealand’s biggest charities, Life Education Trust. For every bottle of Unique Drizzle sold, one child gets to experience the Harold the Giraffe Programme. The olive oil was a huge success which enabled Caring & Co to fund the whole of Homai Primary School (their neighbouring school) through the programme.