The recipients of the 2018 ProCare Foundation funding are:

Charity: Cure Kids
Amount: $60,000
Project Overview: Cure Kids will use the grant from the ProCare Charitable Foundation to fund research to improve respiratory health in Māori and Pasifika infants. The aim of the research project is to look at a way of targeting interventions to improve respiratory health for infants.

Charity: The Starship Foundation
Amount: $35,000
Project Overview: The Starship Foundation will use the grant from the ProCare Charitable Foundation to fund a Youth Health Transition Project Lead to support young people with chronic and acute conditions or disabilities that are at high risk of ‘dropping out’ of health care services when they transition from paediatric to adult-centred health care. The Youth Health Transition Project Lead will work collaboratively with young people with special health needs to develop clear, documented plans for transition and navigation through the adult health system.

Charity: National Heart Foundation of New Zealand
Amount:  $28,954
Project Overview: The National Heart Foundation of New Zealand will use the grant from the ProCare Charitable Foundation to support the nutrition programmes in South Auckland Early Learning Centres (ELCs). As well as supplementing a Nutrition Advisory who will work with the ELCs, the funding will also go towards supplying 900 re-usable, ecofriendly sandwich wraps and educational interactive magnets to help reduced packaged 'snack' foods in ELCs and increase the awareness around healthy food.

Charity: Grief Support and Education Charitable Trust
Amount: $20,000
Project Overview: The Grief Support and Education Charitable Trust will use the grant from the ProCare Charitable Foundation to provide subsidised or free grief counselling services to people living in the Auckland region who are facing some form of loss and grief. The funding will enable the Grief Support and Education Charitable Trust to provide 200 free, or 300 half-subsidised, counselling sessions. These services promote wellbeing and enable families to cope through loss and rebuild their lives. Without support, people are considered to be at significant risk of isolation, depression and more severe mental health and social issues.

Charity: Cystic Fibrosis Association of New Zealand
Amount: $20,000
Project Overview: Cystic Fibrosis Association of New Zealand will use the grant from the ProCare Charitable Foundation to fund the salary and expenses of the Northern Family Support Fieldworker who will provide support to 140 people and their families affected by Cystic Fibrosis (CF) in the Auckland region. The Northern Family Support Fieldworker is based in Auckland and provides face-to-face support, organises access to essential medical equipment and services, and provides a link between the hospital multi-disciplinary team and the community.

Charity: Carers New Zealand
Amount: $25,000
Project Overview: Carers New Zealand will use the grant from the ProCare Charitable Foundation to support the wellbeing of young carers in the Auckland area. Young carers, up to the age of 24, who support loved ones who are elderly, ill, or have disabilities, are a hidden and largely unsupported population of carers. The funding from the ProCare Charitable Foundation will give Carers New Zealand the ability to contract a youth specialist to visit schools, medical practices, youth networks, and sporting organisations, distribute resources and encourage young carers to join the Carers New Zealand network for wellbeing support and advice.

Charity: Family Success Matters
Amount: $20,000
Project Overview: Family Success Matters will use the grant from the ProCare Charitable Foundation to support 230 solo mothers and children who are ‘at-high-risk’. The funding will enable Family Success Matters to employ a Children’s Services Coordinator, and work towards improving the safety and well-being of 230 ‘at-high-risk’ single mothers and their children in Counties Manukau, by ensuring the mothers and their children are adequately supported at every stage of their development as they progress towards a safer and more prosperous future.