Toothpaste earns schools $10,000 in sports equipment

Auckland's Belmont Primary celebrated its 9075 collected cartons with a red and white mufti day

After months of carton collecting, five primary schools from all over the country have earned $10,000 in sports equipment of their choice in a toothpaste carton race.

The winning schools are Akitio School in Dannevirke, Te One School in the Chatham Islands, Lynton Downs School in Kaikoura, Waimate Main School in Waimate, and Belmont School in Auckland.

Winners were selected on the number of cartons they collected per student. 

With over 300 schools taking part, Auckland’s Belmont School brought in 9075 cartons.

Head of sports at Belmont Primary, Ali Logan, was thrilled with the number of cartons his school collected.

“Our kids, staff, parents and the wider community have really been resourceful.

One of our dads spent nine hours standing outside [the supermarket] asking shoppers for their cartons,” Mr Logan says.

“For the last two weekends of the race, we even rostered families to collect cartons from our local [supermarket].  Both times [it] sold out of Colgate toothpaste.” 

Mr Logan says the race was a great way to bring the school together for an important cause.  

“There was a general buzz that resulted from collective teamwork and coming together as a school to earn much needed funds.”

Dannevirke’s Akitio School took first place having managed to collect a few hundred cartons from just seven students on the roll.

Te One School became second with its 57 students pulling in 2472 cartons.

Taking third place, 12 students of Kaikoura’s Lynton Downs collected over 500 cartons by reaching out to their wider community for help.

Creative prizes went to Havelock North Intermediate, Pokuru School, Fairhaven School, Redwood School (Tawa), and Merrilands School.

The initiative was part of an awareness campaign to promote the importance of healthy lifestyles while encouraging children to brush their teeth.