Z Energy : Giving an assist to our tamariki

After bouncing on your screens for this year's Good in the Hood TV ad, we were never going to let 40 brand-new basketballs get benched forever.

So that's why we laid them up to School Start First Impressions (SSFI) for the ultimate slam-dunk, who'll be giving them to local tamariki in need.

"Receiving a donation such as these basketballs from Z means a lot to us," says Nikki de la Rosa, General Manager of SSFI.

"One of SSFI's focuses is on physical activity and the well-being of children so to be able to have these basketballs enables the kids to get outside and play."

The brand-new basketballs were given away at SSFI's recent International Children's Day Party in South Auckland which was attended by around 100 tamariki.

For seven years, SSFI has been helping thousands of tamariki in material hardship across Aotearoa by providing them with the learning tools they need on their first day of school.

That includes a kit box, packed with a backpack, lunch box, drink bottle, uniform, pencil case, underwear, socks and shoes. In some cases it also includes togs, swimming goggles and a towel.