Donate to feed children this Akshaya Tritya!

One of the most auspicious days for Hindus and Jains, Akshaya Tritiya is the birthday of Lord Parshurama and also the day when the Pandavas received the Akshaya Patra. The word ‘akshaya’ means ‘never diminishing’ and the ‘Akshaya Patra’ was a vessel that held unlimited food. This day is also when the goddess of nourishment – Annapurna Devi – was born. It is a day that celebrates plenty and prays for it – plenty of prosperity, plenty of food and plenty of success.

The festival is also considered to be the most fortuitous day for charity. People donate on Akshaya Tritiya as it is believed that doing so brings them a wealth of blessings. Thus, this is the perfect occasion to contribute to The Akshaya Patra Foundation, as just like the ‘Akshaya Patra’ in the Mahabharata, the NGO too provides unlimited food to children across India as part of its ‘food for education’ initiative. So, count your blessings and bring a plateful of cheer to the lives of children too with your generous contribution!

Earth Day 2017: Akshaya Patra’s kitchens strive for energy-efficiency

We are all children of the Earth and we return to her when our time on the planet is up. To honour all that the Earth gives us and to support the cause of environmental protection, Earth Day is celebrated all over the world on April 22 every year. The Akshaya Patra Foundation, a top NGO in India, which operates the world’s largest NGO-run Mid-Day Meal Programme to benefit school children in the country, too is committed to the cause of environmental protection. It has undertaken many initiatives to produce its meals in the most sustainable, energy-efficient manner possible.

Three of Akshaya Patra’s kitchens that feed the children are equipped with biogas plants – the Vadodara kitchen in Gujarat and the Vasanthapura and Ballari kitchens in Karnataka. These are all ISO-certified kitchens and the kitchen at Vasanthapura also has a solar plant. The biogas plants use the waste generated during the preprocessing of vegetables prior to food preparation and leftover from the schools if any. A single biogas plant at the Akshaya Patra kitchens uses an average of 200 kg of mixed vegetable waste per day, while the food returns used amount to 500 kg a day. An average of 65.7m3 per day and the biogas used in place of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) amounts to an average of 55m3 per day. Meanwhile, the LPG equivalent generated by the biogas plant amounts to 20-23 kg per day.

The Vasanthapura kitchen in Bengaluru also has a solar plant that generates 12kw electricity per day. The electricity thus generated is used for lighting up the building and all the other single-phase power applications. Akshaya Patra’s upcoming kitchens too have been designed in such a way that they can accommodate solar panels and plans are underway to equip existing ones with them too. The Foundation also seriously undertakes water conservation efforts. Water consumption in its kitchens is reduced with the help of vegetable washing machines, rice washers, steam cooking, high-pressure jets for equipment and vehicle cleaning, vessel cleaning machines and vessel cleaning showers with tanks. 

Akshaya Patra, as one of the world’s top NGOs conducts training and awareness programmes for its employees to raise awareness about water management and conservation. Wastewater generated in its kitchens is recycled. This recycled water is reused for gardening. The kitchens, besides using renewable energy such as solar energy and biogas, also harvest rainwater.

Akshaya Patra feeds over 1.6 million children in 13,577 schools in 11 states of India and strives to ensure that it does so in the most sustainable manner possible. To contribute to the Foundation’s cause of ‘food for education’, donate to charity now.

Akshaya Patra – Blazing a trail in Uttar Pradesh to eradicate hunger

One school meal a day has the power to fuel the educational pursuits of India’s children. It eliminates classroom hunger, keeps them in school and helps them concentrate better. The Akshaya Patra Foundation, an NGO in Uttar Pradesh (U.P.), helps the cause of ‘food for education’ through its Mid-Day Meal Programme. It works in partnership with State and Central governments in India and feeds its nutritious mid-day meals to over 1.6 million school children in 11 states across India. These meals are cooked in state-of-the-art ISO-certified centralised kitchens that strictly adhere to hygiene standards.

The Foundation is now taking a big leap in expanding its footprint throughout the country, especially in U.P. In December 2016, as an NGO in Uttar Pradesh, Akshaya Patra laid major expansion plans in the state. The state will witness the launch of 11 new kitchens in the districts of Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Agra, Allahabad, Kanpur, Etawah, Kannauj, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Rampur and Ballia. The groundbreaking ceremony for the same was performed by Akhilesh Yadav, former Chief Minister of U.P, at Lok Bhavan, New Secretariat, Lucknow, on December 26, 2016. With the addition of these new kitchens, the Foundation’s reach will expand to 13 lakh beneficiaries in U.P. from 2,11,680 children it is presently feeding, benefitting 10,88,320 more children, starting the next academic year.

Taking its mid-day meals in Uttar Pradesh to a larger number of children will bring Akshaya Patra closer to its vision of ensuring that no child is deprived of education due to hunger. To feed millions more children in India and aid their quest for education via a nutritious school lunch, the Foundation needs the support of all the individuals committed to eradicating classroom hunger. Join Akshaya Patra in nourishing the health and furthering the education of India’s future by making a charity donation towards it.

Give Something Back to Society by Volunteering

Volunteering gives you an opportunity to become an attentive citizen of society

Summer holidays have begun! If you have decided to educate your children or peers or even yourself on development issues this summer, you can get in touch with Akshaya Patra to learn about classroom hunger and how the organisation is tackling the issue. In addition to that, you can also volunteer at the kitchen and visit our beneficiary schools.

At Akshaya Patra, an NGO in Gujarat and 10 other states, we identified hunger to be an issue that affected children’s enrolment in schools. For instance, there are more than 3 lakh children who are benefitted by Akshaya Patra’s Mid-Day Meal Programme in Gujarat. If not for this incentive, many children would have irregular attendance, a few would choose to opt out of school and others would have to bring food from home which becomes a challenge.

Today, we are feeding fresh meals to over 1.6 million children from government schools and government-aided schools. While the programme continues its operations in 11 states across India, many volunteers have pitched in their time and energy towards Food for Education initiative! 

Akshaya Patra offers various volunteering opportunities in two areas:

(i) Kitchens

Akshaya Patra operates 26 centralised kitchens across 11 states in India. As a volunteer, you can get involved in mid-day meal operations – peeling coconuts, sorting grains, loading and unloading of food, and so on.

(ii) Schools

We currently reach out to over 13,000 schools across the country. As a volunteer, you can serve mid-day meals, interact with children and organise activities for them. If you would like to propose a programme that will benefit the school, you can share the same with us.

By volunteering, you will help society and yourself by lifting up your spirit. If time does not allow you to take up volunteering services, you can sponsor a child’s mid-day meals for a year!