KidsCan chief executive Julie Chapman Photo: Supplied / KidsCan
A woman who has devoted her life to fighting child poverty has been named a Dame in the New Year Honours list.
Julie Chapman, founder of KidsCan and Pet Refuge, has been made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to children and the community.
Dame Julie told RNZ the honour came with mixed emotions, because there was more work to do to lower the rates of child poverty and family violence.
"Pet abuse is part of family violence, which are things I wish didn't exist, and that we didn't have to do this work in."
Dame Julie founded KidsCan in 2005, and it currently provided food, clothing, and health items for more than 60,000 children in 1100 schools and early childhood centres.
Earlier this year, the charity said its waitlist was the longest in its 19-year history.
The cost of living crisis and post-Covid landscape meant there were more children than ever living in material hardship, Dame Julie said.
"One of the things I hope this honour will do is actually encourage more people to take the time to find out about what's going in New Zealand and perhaps how they can get involved and make a difference."
She said she was proud of building a sustainable organisation that could provide practical help at a time when children and families were struggling.
"A lot of charities are really struggling for funding, and ... we've never had to say no, or take away support from any school that signs up. We've never had to turn anyone away, because we didn't have the funding to continue."
Dame Julie launched the animal charity Pet Refuge in 2021. Photo: Supplied
In 2021, Dame Julie opened the first Pet Refuge, as part of her charity providing temporary shelter for pets of those fleeing domestic abuse.
The animal charity aimed to reunite pets with their owners as soon as possible.
Dame Julie said she was driven by a "sense of justice... and fairness".
"I absolutely love animals, so knowing they are often used as a tool to control family members, as part of that [domestic] violence - I just really hate that."
A lot of her work centred on "practical solutions" to issues that had not been addressed, she said.
"There was literally nowhere for pets affected by violence to be housed - sometimes for up to a year while their families sought their safety. We keep them so they can be reunited, and that is such a big thing to be able to do for a family going through such a traumatic and stressful time.
"Their pet is often their solace, and the thing that keeps them going."
Dame Julie acknowledged the support of her mentor and "rock", Glenda Hughes, as well as her husband.
The honour was "taking a bit to sink in, but it's pretty cool", she said.
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