NGO in Rajasthan Feeds a Child with Rs 950 for an Entire Year

The sum of Rs 950 has a different a meaning for every person. For a few it’s the amount with which they can buy their favourite outfit or go to their liked place for dinner. But for many children, it is a source of hope, a hope that they will be able to relish a nutritious and delicious food for the entire year.

Though it sounds difficult, The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been making it possible for over 1.6 million children. The food served is prepared according to the guidelines set by the Government. The food is nutritious and delicious at the same time. While the food gives them the freedom to choose education over work, it also gives them the ability to make their decisions and aspire to pursue a career of their choice. By choosing education over work, they also get enough time to participate in sports activities and other activities of their choice.

Akshaya Patra is among the major NGOs in Rajasthan and it ensuring good health for all its beneficiaries. The menu varies every day so as to ensure that the children don’t lose interest in food. To gain the best out of seasonal vegetables, the dishes are changed depending on the seasons.

The Foundation will soon be launching its fifth kitchen in Ajmer. The existing four kitchens are located in Jaipur, Baran, Nathdwara and Jodhpur. About 1,70,723 children from 2,672 schools are currently benefiting from the initiative across the state.

Your contribution of just Rs 950 can ensure that the children are able to relish a wholesome meal served by the Foundation on every school day. They will be encouraged to prioritise studies over work. With a full stomach meal, they will be able to concentrate on studies. This will in turn lead the country towards positive development.

Do your bit by donating to charity today.

How Does Akshaya Patra Manage Food Production Process

Cooking for a large number of people is challenging as it requires that the chef ensures all elements are in place. In the kitchens of The Akshaya Patra Foundation, it's an everyday operation that runs like clockwork. 

The Foundation, an NGO in Bangalore, which runs the school lunch programme for children across 12 states in the country, now serves hot lunches to over 1.6 million school children every day. It supplies freshly-cooked food from 34 kitchens and is scaling up with every passing day. The food prepared here is distributed in 13,800+ schools.

Akshaya Patra's established systems and process have been dealing with an emergent situation with ease.

Quality Assurance during procurement

The Supplier Quality Management System (SQMS) process covers subprocesses like supplier selection, supplier qualification, supplier rating, etc., to ensure the right and best raw materials are procured. One can sponsor a child to ensure a needy child is part of the system. 

Storage and Handling

 
Fresh vegetables are procured on a daily basis. Cold storage is used to store ready-to-cook cut vegetables to retain freshness. Rice is supplied by the Food Corporation of India.

Quality and Safety during cooking

All kitchens of Akshaya Patra follow a standard process. This process is charted out to ensure hygiene and quality. Personal hygiene and Food Safety training are provided regularly to the kitchen staff to ensure hygiene standards are met.

Food Packing and Transportation

The distribution staff picks the food from kitchens and delivers it at various schools around the kitchen. They travel by delivery vans fitted with a honeycomb structure to prevent food from spilling. The vehicles are also insulated to maintain the temperature of the cooked meals. The vans are also equipped with GPS, which makes it easy to monitor the van and ensure the food reaches the school on time.

The large centralized kitchens, on an average, have the capacity to cook up to 2,00,000 meals. For running such large scale operation, one can donate to charity to be part of the operations.

Spreading Smiles Through Food Every Day

The humble beginnings of The Akshaya Foundation started with it serving mid-day meals to about 1,500 children in the year 2000 to five government schools in Bengaluru. The foundation, known for its dedicated service, now aims to reach 5 million children every day by 2020.

Having started with just one van transporting food from a kitchen in Bengaluru across the schools, the Foundation today serves over 1.6 million children across 13,800+ schools in 12 states across India. The food supplied is cooked in 34 centralised and decentralised kitchens operated by the Foundation. Corporates and Individuals donating for education in India have been a major support to the Foundation.

Built on a public-private partnership model, Akshaya Patra combines good management, innovative technology and smart engineering to deliver a nutritious and hygienic school lunch. It has taken one baby step at a time, and over time adopting a near corporate-style of functioning, including annual auditing by highly respected auditors. This has ensured that it is trusted by every donor. It also got the respect of many multi-national companies to support the cause of a top NGO like Akshaya Patra.

The Foundation’s kitchens are built leveraging the state of the art technology. The meals are prepared with a minimal human contact with the food and thus are extremely safe and hygienic. 

Started with a vision that "No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger", it has been very successful in meeting the aim to a very great extent. Despite the huge and daunting task ahead of it in a country where millions of children are born into economically-challenged families, it did not deter the Foundation.

But, to keeps its good work going, it needs continuous flow of funds. It's only the NGOs' role in India that ensures the needy children are reached across the country.  It has today come to be one of the largest such mid-day meal schemes in the world and it's growing rapidly.

National Education Day: There’s a need to strengthen educational institutions

The National Education Day, the annual observance to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first education minister of independent India. It is the day commemorated to strengthen the educational institutions in the country and raise the quality of education.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad served from August 15, 1947 to February 2, 1958. He laid foundations of the education system after the country became independent. He was instrumental in establishing national education system wherein free and compulsory education, until the age of 14, was introduced. An institution like Indian Institutes of Technology was also brought in under his guidance in the year 1951. He introduced University Grants Commission in 1953. His contribution in the development of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and the Faculty of Technology of the Delhi University has been phenomenal. He gave importance to adult literacy.

The late South African President and anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela said: ‘‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’’ Mandela hit the nail on the head in a way that the informed individuals understand their rights and duties.

Role of NGOs is crucial in ensuring that no one is left out of the education system. The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been playing a major role in ensuring that children stay in school and hence, it today reaches over 1.6 million children across the country.

The objective of celebrating the National Education Day should be to strengthen our educational institutions and raise the quality of education. It should be an occasion to remember Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's contribution in laying the foundations of the education system in Independent India as well as to evaluate performance in this field. This would go a long way in advancing India as a knowledge economy and society.

It’s also an occasion to focus on finding means to educate the people left out of the system for various reasons. Any help extended towards achieving this, through NGOs, for instance, are considered tax deductible donations.

For strong institutions and a robust education system, we not only need the adequate infrastructure, but also need good teachers who not only teach what’s prescribed in the syllabus, but are in fact, inspiring and turn the students thinking individuals.

For achieving this, the system needs to ensure that there is the right type of training given to teachers. While Akshaya Patra ensures children attend school every day by incentivising them with food, charity donations from individuals can ensure that this can be minimised.

This NGO in Karnataka is contributing to eradicate classroom hunger

Karnataka celebrated its formation day recently. Akshaya Patra has many memories related to the state. Starting from first school to be benefitting from the meals cooked by Akshaya Patra, the non-profit organisation in Karnataka currently serves 2,968 Government and Government-aided schools in the state over 17 years of its existence in the state. It has been instrumental in bringing down the dropout rate among schoolchildren.

Many NGOs work towards countering hunger and malnutrition. The Akshaya Patra Foundation has come to be seen as a major participant in the mid-day meals that reach thousands of children, mostly from the economically-challenged backgrounds. Given the reach and impact of the NGO, it is among the list of NGOs in Bangalore that are helping the children in many ways.

The State Governments have been partnering NGOs like the Foundation in implementing the Mid-Day Meal Programme in their efforts to increase the number of children in schools.

The NGO has been using the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model as a route to improve the quality and reach of the programme. The NGOs selected in this scheme are picked based on many variables set by the State Government. Such organisations must be transparent and of proven integrity. Akshaya Patra has been feed the children a wholesome meal every day. 

The Foundation today helps feed over 4.86 lakh children in 2,968 schools in Karnataka. Over 2 lakh children from Bengaluru benefit from this initiative. They are supplied freshly-cooked food from kitchens in the city. Many corporates and individuals come together and make charity donations to enable the NGO to feed school lunch to these children.

The programme has only been increasing in its scope and reach over the years and is widening its reach fast.

How to make this Diwali special by involving in a social cause

Make this festival of lights special. There are numerous ways to do it. But by involving social cause in your celebration, you would be spreading joy among others too. 

How can you do so? One can get involved with a social cause. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is one such avenue for anyone looking to share their happiness with the disadvantaged. While you are ensuring someone is getting a chance to be happy, it's a chance to light up many lives.

The non-profit fundraising ideas of an NGO, especially a credible one like Akshaya Patra, would be a good means of ensuring you have reached the right target group or groups.

Happiness cannot be measured, but can be felt, and can be contagious. If someone you know also notices that they too can be a part of the social cause, it's no less than magical. Imagine the number of lives you can touch while indirectly encouraging others too to be part of the cause.

You can either make the donation yourself directly to the foundation or organize various fundraising activities. These can be anything engaging. The profit generated out of this can be used to donate towards the cause of feeding children. This way your source of joy will not be limited to your family and friends. Even these children whom you will be donating meals to can make you happy. As you donate towards the cause, you will be eligible for tax exemption in India.

This is just one of the ways you can reach the target group. In this case, mostly school children. By donating just Rs 950, you can assure a child a meal for one entire year. Apart from just filling their stomach, this will also help them prioritise studies over work.

Contribute towards ensuring every child in India is well-fed and educated. Donate to charity today.

A full-stomach meal improves a child's efficiency

Malnutrition is prevalent among large sections of our population across the country. It disproportionately affects children from all sections of the society, mostly from disadvantaged backgrounds. The NGOs like Akshaya Patra Foundation play a major role in ensuring that the prevalence of malnourishment among children is minimised.

Children who are able to have a square meal, are also more productive and thus, more efficient. The World Health Organization, says, “Adequate nutrition can raise your productivity levels by 20 per cent on average.” That should be enough of data to encourage the government and NGOs to work towards this goal.

In fact, one can get tax exemption if you contribute towards this cause of ensuring adequate nutrition for children. NGOs have a major role to play towards meeting this goal. So, why not make charity donations to an NGO in India like Akshaya Patra. Thus, your charity donations would reach the right people.

This is where Mid-day meal benefits are obvious. Most of the children benefiting from Akshaya Patra’s mid-day meal scheme are those from not from better-off backgrounds.  Many of them, who otherwise would have dropped out of school, stay on because they are able to focus on their studies as the nutritious food they get ensures that they stayed focused. 

The Charity Donations the organisation receives from you could help feed children who are the future generations. Regular meal will help them stay focused on studies. As a result of the contributions, the school children will be able to stay on in school. Also, they will understand the importance of education and ensure that their children are well-fed and educated.

Thus, it’s time to tackle the probably hardest and most ongoing challenge we all face: nutrition. Let’s join hands to ensure that every child in the country is well-fed and educated. Donate to feed children, today.

Tips to Celebrate Joy of Giving Week with Disadvantaged Children

Nothing can be more satisfying or can give you more pleasure than knowing that whatever largesse you share will give direct benefits to the disadvantaged. It would be more so in case they are children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

 

What can you do to be sure that the donation you give is spreading happiness? On this Joy of Giving Week, also called the Daan Utsav, you can donate for a cause. While making others happy, you can be happy yourself by doing your mite for the needy.

It would make sense to do it through an NGO. You could do it through Akshaya Patra which is spreading happiness among the children during this Joy of Giving Week. An NGO knows the quantum of resources needed, and thus help direct your contributions to the right causes.

Let’s celebrate this week as a ‘Joy of Giving Week’ and feel the sense of happiness that would overtake you. Of course, it need not be about donating money alone.  Here are a few ideas to celebrate the ‘Joy of Giving Week’.

1. Offer service: Take time out to offer some services at schools for disadvantaged children. Many of them need you. You can spend time with the children there, teaching them and playing with them. Helping to supplement their schooling with tuitions would allow them to improve themselves and be on a par with other children.

2. At school: You could spend a day helping spruce up their school.

3. Serve them meals: During festivals, which is a time of celebrations, you can indeed feel the ‘Joy of Giving’ by serving them meals.  The happiness on the face of the children can beat any happiness that you could ever experience.

4. Help them in mental development: Gift the toys and indoor games that your children may have outgrown. Toys not only make the children happy, but would also help stimulate their brains, ensuring a better and wholesome mental development.

5. Donate for nutritious meals: You could also donate to charity for some meals through Akshaya Patra.

These selfless acts can only ensure that you are contributing to a healthier and happier future for all these children. They face the danger not being able to have nutritious meal or even one-square meal a day.

Not to forget, you can also help out at the kitchens of Akshaya Patra that serve hot food to over 1.6 million children every day in 13,800+ schools in the country.

Mid-Day Meals in School Motivate Children to Aspire High

There are several benefits of the mid-day meal scheme being run by The Akshaya Patra Foundation in schools. Many of these benefits relate to the health of the children and their physical and mental growth. However, a bonus about this service is that children learn to have aspirations about their career. 

These children, who are beneficiaries of mid-day meal in states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka or Madhya Pradesh, become conscious of their career choices. For instance, Sanjana Borashetti, a student of Class VIII in a Government school in Huballi, scores highest in her class. She is motivated to come to school because she never wants to miss the benefits of the mid-day meal scheme being run in her school.

Since often her house is deprived of electricity, she wishes to work in the direction of public amenities. She wants to become a district collector when she grows up.

When Sanjana experienced the basic benefit of the mid-day meal scheme, she understood the importance of fulfilling basic necessities for others.

Be it in Tamil Nadu or Madhya Pradesh, the mid-day meal is being served keeping the local cuisine in mind. Thus, children enjoy food and never miss school. Regular attendance keeps them informed about the world and inspires them to compete with their peers.

Many of these children get sponsorships from various donors who give generously for Akshaya Patra. The donors get the benefit of tax exemption. But nothing makes the donors happier than reading success stories of children who dream for their future.

If you are someone who wish to help children receive the benefits of mid-day meal scheme, do lend us a helping hand. Your donations are eligible for tax exemptions. As Akshaya Patra observes the Hunger Action Month and focuses its attention towards states like Tamil Nadu, you can choose to help today.

How NGO's in Uttar Pradesh is Ensuring Children's Development?

Educating children and ensuring they remain healthy in the region has been an important goal for NGOs working across the world. Many NGOs in Uttar Pradesh or Bihar are working on the similar lines. This helps in increasing the awareness level of children. Many NGO’s in Lucknow are working towards ensuring that the children get quality food and education.

Therefore, NGOs like The Akshaya Patra Foundation are reaching out to children in schools of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh among other states. The foundation is serving wholesome meals to school children. The NGO has a state-of-the-art kitchen in Lucknow from where mid-day meals are supplied to various Government and Government-aided schools in Uttar Pradesh. 

This has a deeper implication. When children are motivated to attend schools, they develop dreams and aspirations of a career. Education opens up various subjects and avenues. As a result, children learn about their own inclination towards certain subjects. This in turn helps them to take steps towards a fruitful career in the subject they like. 

When the NGO in Uttar Pradesh reaches out to school children, it becomes a part of the children’s growth. Children attending schools regularly discover the charms of science, language, politics, geography or humanities. This encourages them to explore their interests. The foundation laid during the younger days forms is important as that helps the children pick their career choices. The Stories of Hope demonstrate how children relish the opportunities of a great career.

NGOs like Akshaya Patra are taking these aspirations to far-off schools in and around Lucknow. These are areas where access to information is often limited. And so when children are exposed to regular dose of education and knowledge, they heartily appreciate it. The NGO thus calls for donors to sponsor a child and pave a career path for him/her. When donors choose to sponsor a child, they become part of his/her growth and become instrumental in his career development. You can contribute and help these children realise their life’s goals. Sponsor a child today. 

Why Children Need a Wholesome Meal

What makes the world’s largest NGO-run mid-day meal programme significant? It’s because it feeds the children with wholesome meal. This kind of meal aids in growth of their body and mind. During their childhood, children are more prone to develop at least one of the micronutrient deficiencies such as vitamin A, iodine, iron, zinc or folate. They must be given a wholesome meal in sufficient quantity to ensure their body develops with their age. 

The mid-day meal programme run by The Akshaya Patra Foundation, an NGO that has kitchens across India. One of them is in Surat. From their state-of-the-art kitchen in Surat, the meal is supplied to various schools in and around Surat.

The NGO is feeding the children in Surat as part of its nation-wide programme that’s run in collaboration with the Government. This programme lays emphasis on the wholesomeness of the meals because these meals directly impact children’s growth. The NGO, that began operations in the year 2000, works in active collaboration with the government and government-run schools in order to feed the children.

In Surat, the school children are especially excited as they are getting their favourite meals every day served by the NGO’s volunteers. As part of the Hunger Action Month, the NGO is trying to take mid-day meals to more schools in Surat and other parts of Gujarat.

The contributors or donors to the NGO get the benefit of 80G deduction in income tax. That way more donors are encouraged to contribute and help in feeding the children. However, it’s not just the 80G deduction that encourages people. Many people in the city take out time to volunteer in the kitchen. They help the staff in cooking the meals and serving it to the children.

The kitchen of this NGO in Surat especially uses pulses such as Toor dal, fortified soy dal, green gram whole, Urad dal, peas, Moong dal, cow pea, green gram sprouts, soy products like- chunks, flakes, Gram dal, Bengal gram whole, channa dal etc. while preparing the meals. Since the menu is already in place, the meals are always healthy and wholesome and benefit the children.

Feeding the children with wholesome meals is significant today if we want our children to experience a healthy growth. You can join us this month as we observe Hunger Action Month and attempt to eliminate hunger among children in India.

Penning A Bright Future with Literacy

International Literacy Day, observed on September 8 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), commemorates its 50-year anniversary in 2016. This day recognises the importance of literacy and promotes it through engagement on national and international levels. It is being celebrated under the banner ‘Reading the Past, Writing the Future’ this year.

According to the 2011 census, India’s literacy rate was 74.04% (82 .14% among males and 65.46% among females). The nation has made strides in literacy rate, with active efforts from the Government and organisations like The Akshaya Patra Foundation through its initiatives like food for education, but there is still a long way to go. The cause of literacy must certainly be on the top of the agenda for social improvement, as high rates of literacy benefit the individual and society in numerous ways.

Source: To know the ways to improve literacy rate, visit: International Literacy Day

This Teacher's Day, Let's Make Education Accessible to Children

A teacher takes a hand, opens a mind and touches a heart, it is said. And when children are free to use their hands for writing, their mind for thinking and their heart for learning, true education happens. But many children in India are deprived of education due to inaccessibility to school. They are forced to work to earn their meals. The need to for donation for education in India is a need of the hour.

Every year on Teachers’ Day, we hear amazing tales of extraordinary teachers who chose children charity as a mission of their lives. We learn about some of them who went an extra mile to donate or teach or volunteer for education in India. Many of these set great examples of teaching or doing children charity, became life mentors and brought several children to the light of education. 

Our heart especially reaches out to hundreds of dedicated teachers serving in Government or Government-aided schools.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation serves mid-day meals to children in thousands of such schools. The volunteers interact with teachers who freely extend their support to the foundation in serving a wholesome lunch. These teachers encourage children to enjoy their meals and come to the school regularly. 

The foundation is observing Hunger Month in September by educating teachers and students about the ill effects of under nourishment. The organisation is spreading awareness about the need to feed the children through charity or donation. We are thankful to teachers who are helping us fight hunger this month. 

You may be a teacher or someone who is touched by a teacher’s charity. You may consider helping the society by donating for education in India. All donations with The Akshaya Patra Foundation gain income tax exemption. Donate today.

Role of NGOs in uplifting children

Non-government organisations often take up charity for children because they know children are the future of the nation. There’s a long list of NGOs in Bangalore that are involved in the causes related to children. 

Among them is a prominent NGO in Bangalore, Akshaya Patra that provides food and education to children through charity resources. This specific charity for children aims at reducing classroom hunger, thereby, bringing children to schools. NGOs like this are playing a crucial role in eradicating both hunger and illiteracy among children. The NGO in Bangalore follows a certain guideline which is used while preparing a wholesome lunch in their kitchen. With its state-of-the-art kitchens that prepare hygienic food, the NGO ensures that more and more schools are added in the list of serving the food in Bangalore schools.

This cause also encourages parents to send their children to school and gives them an equal opportunity to study as well as get a healthy meal. Akshaya Patra believes that both physical and mental growth of children could be stunted if they are not served nutritious food.

Even as the government in India strives to make primary education free and compulsory for children, school drop-out rate continues to rise. And the major cause of this rise is classroom hunger. The only effective way to eliminate this cause is to serve wholesome mid-day meals in schools so children are motivated to attend schools every day.

The NGO gives its well-wishers an opportunity to contribute towards this charity by inviting online donations, encouraging people towards online fundraising campaigns and partnering with corporate sector for resources and volunteers. You can also play a major role in helping NGOs such as Akshaya Patra by choosing to contribute in whatever way you can. Sponsor a child today!

Sponsor a Child and Develop Hunger Free India

As we celebrate 70 years of independence, let us pledge to sponsor a child and give him the education he deserves.  Millions of children in India suffer from hunger as a result of which their growth is stunted. 

We cannot truly call our country free unless we free our children from the shackles of hunger. Hunger in India is directly related to lack of education and growth among children. Akshaya Patra, an NGO that serves wholesome lunch to school children, is trying to free children from both hunger and illiteracy. When you choose to sponsor a child beneficiary of Akshaya Patra, you get tax exemption in India. But most importantly, you get to be a part of a mission that’s feeding and educating children of India. Let’s together develop a hunger free India.

The history of mid-day meal scheme in India dates back to the year 2000 when the Akshaya Patra Foundation began the mid-day meal programme in Bengaluru. The organisation began serving children nutritious meals, several donors came forward to sponsor children, several others donated vehicles and other resources. The organisation joined hands with the government and now serves meal to children in 12 states in India. 

Donors in India started getting tax exemption, more resources were added, the Sponsor a Child programme helped get nutritious meals to many more children. The history of mid-day meal scheme that began with serving 1,500 children continued and served 1.6 million children and became the largest mid-day meal programme in the world. 

It’s a scheme that creates a free environment for our children to grow and get education. Our children would make our future society that we visualise as independent and free. And we can ensure this only by setting our children free from hunger today. The mid-day meal scheme is creating history every day in India as more and more children come to school and get wholesome lunch. 

If we donate for this cause, we can easily get tax exemption in India. Sponsor a child today.

This NGO in Ahmedabad wants to take children back to school

Zinkal Wariya is a beneficiary of an NGO that serves mid-day meals in schools of Ahmedabad. A student of standard VIII at Bhadaj village in Ahmedabad, Zinkal wishes to join the army in future. Apart from sports and her passion, she looks forward to school for the nutritious mid-day meals served by an Indian charitable trust. She knows the day menus now that involve daal bhaat, subzi-roti, khichdi, sukhdi, daal dhokli and the likes. 

 

Like Zinkal, several children in Ahmedabad are motivated to come to school regularly because they are being served nutritious meals every day by the NGO in Ahmedabad Akshaya Patra. These children today feel fearless about their future because they don’t go back home empty stomach and have enough energy to study throughout the day. Their basic nutrition needs are fulfilled to a great extent through the healthy meals served by the Indian charitable trust. This NGO in Ahmedabad also serves children across India.

Through this, the NGO in Ahmedabad aims to address both hunger and education for children. The NGO is targeting remote schools in Ahmedabad in order to reach out to more and more children with wholesome lunch. For that, the charitable trust needs resources so that Indian children don’t miss schools due to hunger.

Donating to a charity like this should come more like a responsibility towards an educated society for future. Children who grow up having nutritious food and valuable exposure to education found a more civilised and a more sensible society. As adults, they would be motivated to educating their children to make India a developed society. Such a society is able to nurture innovators and positive influencers who have the power to change the world.

The NGO is committed to bring more children to schools in Ahmedabad. Your contribution would help them in their endeavour Donate to this Indian Charitable Trust.

How is this NGO in Uttar Pradesh reducing school dropout rate

Akshaya Patra, an NGO in Uttar Pradesh, has been serving mid-day meals to children from its two kitchens in Lucknow and Vrindavan. The experience has been such that the schools which are benefiting from the initiative are experiencing better attendance than before. Apart from Uttar Pradesh, similar results have been observed in other states where the NGO runs its Mid-day Meal Programme.

This NGO in Uttar Pradesh is currently serving meals to 2,11,680 children alone. This charity for children is now changing the way parents there look at education. 

One of the most thickly populated states in India, Uttar Pradesh, houses several children who drop out of schools, either due to parental pressure or because of the need to earn their own meals. The only way to retain these children in school is by serving mid-day meals on a daily basis. The charity for children – Akshaya Patra – aims at opening 11 new kitchens in the state in districts of Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Agra, Allahbad, Kanpur, Etawah, Kannauj, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Rampur and Ballia. As a result, this charity would serve 1.3 million children as part of its mid-day meal programme in Uttar Pradesh. 

The kitchens run by this NGO are state-of-the-art when it comes to the quality and volume of cooking happening on a daily basis. Hygiene and nutrition are the two most important criteria of cooking here apart from timely delivery of meals.

You can help this charity for children continue serving meals to children with your contributions.

Make your weekends productive by volunteering with NGOs

What’s your first instinct about spending the weekend? It could be as mundane as doing the laundry or as fun as going for a picnic. But wait, even doing something for the children at a non-profit organisation can be fun, isn’t it?

So here’s a little inspiration. Meet a Std VI student from Puri, Badal Behera, who loves Yoga. He is a beneficiary of the Mid-day Meal Programme in Odisha. Now he loves all sport in general but is particularly passionate about Yoga. He says: Yoga improves memory power and helps in maintaining blood pressure.

There are many children like Badal who have benefitted by the Mid-day Meal Programme run by non-profit organisation for children named Akshaya Patra. You can choose to be an active contributor in one of these hope stories.

The non-profit organisation serves mid-day meals in not only Odisha but also in other states and invites volunteers, donors and contributors for the same. Some sponsor a child, others donate kitchen equipment, still others simply engage in volunteer activities with the organisation. 

Got a free weekend? You can simply choose to be an online contributor by for the Akshaya Patra. You may promote the non-profit organisation for the children on your social media accounts, invite friends to follow the organisation’s Facebook page or simply download the screensavers, wallpapers, posters or banners and build awareness.

You may use your weekend to write blogs on topics like sponsoring a child or about mid-day meals across various states including Odisha. That’s not all, you may engage in online fundraising activities where the funds would be used for serving mid-day meals to children. Weekends are personal and precious to you. But when you involve others, such as children, in this personal space, for a great cause, they become productive too. Volunteer today.

What's inside the wholesome plate served by a noted NGO in Ahmedabad?

What’s on your plate today? That is the primary agenda of a noted NGO in Ahmedabad serving wholesome lunch to school children every day, along with other children across the country. What are the elements in this special plate that make it truly wholesome?

 

 

Ahmedabad, among other things, is known for its delicious Gujarati Thaali (plate). So when this Indian charitable trust set out to serve wholesome meals to children, they were aware of the challenge. They decided to include nutritious elements from the traditional Gujarati Thaali and rotate the menu throughout the week. The menu that this NGO decided to serve in Ahmedabad begins with Soya Chunks Pulav, Mix Dal and Thepla on Mondays; Tur dal khichdi, Sabji with Kabuli Chana, Thepla and Chakri on Tuesdays; Jeera rice with Kabuli Chana, Dal Dhokli and biscuits on Wednesdays and so on.

There’s a good mix of pulses, vegetables and cereals apart from milk products, nuts and fruits. This Indian charitable trust understands what children need most – a balanced diet. This means the elements in every day’s lunch plate involves a good mix of proteins and carbohydrates.
 
This NGO in Ahmedabad is no other than Akshaya Patra that serves mid-day meals to school children in the city and also in other locations across the country. The charitable trust makes wholesome meal fun for Indian children by including sweets, milk products, fruits and nuts. Of course, local flavours play a major role in these meals which makes them interesting for school children.

Just like in Ahmedabad, every city has a set of local meals that have nutritious ingredients suitable for specific climate and this is duly recognised by the NGO. For instance, Thepla is a regular part of everyday meals in Ahmedabad, so the NGO includes it in almost every other day during the mid-day meal programme. Thepla contains fenugreek seeds, whole wheat flour, gram flour, pear millet flour, sourgham flour among others that are rich sources of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, calcium, dietary fibre and several dietary minerals.

If you think, every child in India deserves to get all the elements on his lunch plate every day, donate to charity today.

Let's build a nourished India with online fundraising

As we celebrate World Population Day on July 11, how about thinking something different from just sharing insightful articles on social media pages. Can we channelise our resources, through online fundraising, for a nourished India. As of July 2017, India stands at 1.34 billion people. More than 50 per cent of this population is below the age of 25, including children. This demographic is our future but are they nourished and healthy enough?

A non-profit organisation Akshaya Patra is striving to secure the future of India’s children by fighting hunger and sourcing resources through donations and non-profit fundraising ideas. The organisation serves wholesome lunch to school children in several states in India ensuring that no child in India misses school due to hunger.

In your online fundraising campaign, you can inform the community about how World Population Day was started by the governing council of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that works towards the reproductive health of the community especially women and the youth. It’s only apt that every one of us in India contribute towards making it a more nourished and a healthier country. Millions of children in India are either under nourished or hungry and we cannot have a healthy nation without feeding wholesome meal to children. We can donate to charities such as Akshaya Patra, or simply engage in online fundraising towards the cause of food and education.

Through online fundraising campaigns, we can raise awareness about how healthy children are better focuses towards their dreams and goals. When their basic need of nourishment is met, they are able to pursue professions such as medical, engineering, education, information technology or any other field of their choice and contribute positively towards nation’s development. Non-profit fundraising ideas don’t need a special talent, but only a strong will towards the cause.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been engaged in the cause of nourishment of children since the year 2000. As population grows, the organisation strives to reach all of them with their School-lunch Programme. Help the foundation by donating to charity today.

How can parents inculcate social responsibility among children?

James A. Baldwin once said, “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” One of the best ways that parents can teach their children to contribute to the development of the community is by setting examples of social service. Here’s how they can do it:

Volunteer for education

Take them along on weekends to teach children in slums who have no or little access to school and education. You can also teach them importance of opting for wholesome meal instead of junk by sponsoring meal for the children there. You can talk about Akshaya Patra that’s on a mission to get children back to school by serving them mid-day meals. They will realise the importance of wholesome meal. You can donate online on Akshaya Patra’s website and involve them in the activity.

Work for environment 

Buy seeds and saplings and encourage them to plant those. They can also indulge in online fundraising to fund tree plantation drives. But most of all you can involve them in nurturing a beautiful garden at home so that they can learn to respect the environment. 

Non-profit fundraising ideas 

Children read and observe more than you can imagine. Have a brainstorming session with them at home discussing fundraising ideas. Reap some benefit out of this activity. For example, they can create an artwork that can be sold through social networking sites. The funds raised can be donated to non-profit organisations. 

It’s only when such thoughts and acts are encouraged among children that we can build a selfless society. When you choose to donate towards charity, it’s the biggest gesture you can make in order to encourage children towards social service. Sponsor a child today!

Charity fundraising ideas to take children back to school

A fully literate nation is a step closer to the prosperity of its citizens. As children get back to school, we can engage in some charity fundraising activities to aid their education. Here are some interesting non-profit fundraising ideas you can look forward to.

Selling handmade cards/bookmarks

Bring together children from your area to create interesting art work depicting their school life or subjects they love the most.  Let the children use their imagination and create cards, posters and bookmarks. Organise a non-profit fundraising activity in your area, school or college where you can sell the art works. Use these proceeds to sponsor a child’s education in organisations like Akshaya Patra.

Book exchange

Students in school or colleges or even working executives can be invited on Facebook to exchange their books as a charity fundraising campaign. Motivate people to give away their unused or read books that they don’t wish to retain anymore. Set a nominal fee to enroll in the activity. Inform the participants that the proceeds generated from the activity will be used to send children back to school.

Online fundraising campaigns

Browsing online for information and engaging activities has become a second nature of millennial generation. A thoughtfully created online activity can engage them easily. Use the power of online media to start a charity fundraising campaigns for non-profit organisations such as Akshaya Patra. It’s easier to create online non-profit fundraising campaigns; and if done smartly, you can raise a significant amount of funds for the cause.

Garage sale

You can simply organise a garage sale in your office or colony and ask people to donate things they don’t mind parting from. Participants can not only donate the stuff but also buy some of those that are kept there by others. Use the proceeds of this sale towards any cause related to education.

As you engage in these activities, Akshaya Patra does its bit by incentivising school children to attend schools by serving them wholesome lunch? You can also be a part of the great mission of sending children back to school by starting your own online fundraising campaign. Create a campaign today.

We are a few steps closer to being a fully literate country. Reaching there is not so tough if we come together.

Quality food produced through Six-sigma methodology at Akshaya Patra

What makes Akshaya Patra’s Mid-Day Meal Programme (MDMP) world’s largest serving wholesome lunch? Is it the numbers? Over 1.6 million children. Or is it the demographic? 13,636 schools across 12 states in India. What truly makes MDMP, run by a non-profit organisation, large is that the meals served have become actual incentives for children in India to attend schools and achieve academic success. Children of all these government institutions don’t skip schools because of scrumptious lunch they get to relish.    

This large-scale impact, created with the help of charity donations, was made possible by streamlining a six-sigma methodology that goes into the cooking and serving of these meals every single day. The funds raised, for Mid-Day Meal Programme, help us fill over 1.6 million stomachs every day.

MDMP is like a high-scale project of a company 

Akshaya Patra functions like a private company by ensuring quality of production and delivery. The quality inspection, storage and preservation of raw materials follow the standards set by Food Safety Standards Act 2006 (FSSA); the rice is supplied by the Food Corporation of India (FCI); all the kitchens follow ‘First In, First Out’ and ‘First Expiry, First Out’ methods while using the raw materials for cooking. The vessels used for cooking are made of 304 grade stainless steel. Well-trained cooks and supervisors ensure quality control while cooking for these kitchens run by the top NGO that’s on a mission to feed the children.

Hope stories testify quality

Children usually have the habit of skipping lunch, so engrossed they are in their games and sports. But beneficiaries of MDMP enthusiastically have their lunch every day and the prospect of a nutritious meal encourages them to come to school regularly. Several hope stories we came across over the years testify how MDMP has influenced the lives of the children positively.

Initiatives that draw accountability

Akshaya Patra keeps a strict policy of transparency to maintain complete accountability of the quality of meals being served. The non-profit organisation often engages in several initiatives to involve the society so people are encouraged towards charity fundraising or donations for the cause of food and education. These events publicly involve the society and hold the non-profit organisation accountable for quality.

Innovative kitchens that set benchmarks 

When 100,000 meals are cooked in a single state-of-the-art centralised kitchen, repeated experiments can make it possible. So Akshaya Patra partnered with Innovation Alchemy for scaling up its kitchens without compromising on the quality. As a result, these centralised kitchens have become a subject of study and research. They have been featured on National Geographic channel’s India’s Mega Kitchens. You can read about them in the book God’s Own Kitchen. 

Donors trust MDMP

It’s the transparency of the MDMP scheme that makes prestigious companies and trusted brands often lend a helping hand in terms of charity donations and fundraising. In April 2017, SBI foundation donated a generous amount to the non-profit organisation and would be invested towards 1250 hot insulated vessels to keep food hot for 8-10 hours. The insulated hot boxes would be distributed amongst Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Guwahati and Nathdwara kitchens. Apart from organisations, Akshaya Patra allows individuals to contribute smaller amounts in sponsoring a child or in simply donating for the overall cause. Due to the generous charity donations and fundraising, Akshaya Patra is able to comply with quality and hygiene standards set every day in the Mid-Day Meal Programme.

A sneak-peek into Akshaya Patra’s mega kitchens that feed millions of children

Imagine 100,000 meals being cooked in a single kitchen under strict norms of hygiene and quality control. Akshaya Patra’s state-of-the-art centralised kitchens process these meals on a daily basis. Due to their standards of hygiene and technology, they have been featured in National Geographic Channel’s India’s Mega Kitchens as well.

The kitchens follow the six sigma methodology with a pre-scheduled menu and equipment that’s relevant to the specific region. For instance, North Indian kitchens have rice and dal cauldrons with roti making machines while South Indian kitchens have rice and sambar cauldrons.

Ensuring quality every day

The NGO’s kitchens ensure quality all through its centers in India right from the procurement of the raw material. The quality inspection, storage and preservation of raw materials follow the standards set by Food Safety Standards Act 2006 (FSSA); the rice is supplied by the Food Corporation of India (FCI); all the kitchens follow First in First Out and First Expiry First Out methods while using the raw materials for cooking.

All the vessels used during cooking are of stainless steel 304 food grade material. Well-trained cooks and supervisors ensure quality control during the cooking for these kitchens run by the top NGO that’s on a mission to feed the children.

Here are few photographs that give you a glimpse of our kitchens:

Bigcouldrons

Centralised Kitchens

Chopped Vegetables

Roti Cutting Machine

The NGO also conducts training programmes for the cooking staff in various parts of India to make them aware and conscious that since they are feeding nutritious meals to the children, they need to be strict about personal hygiene. Akshaya Patra’s newest kitchen opened recently in Bhavnagar, Gujarat. The kitchen has the capacity to cook mid-day meals for 50,000 children. About 28,000 children from 57 government schools In Bhavnagar will be benefitted by Akshaya Patra’s mid-day meals in the area. Now Akshaya Patra, as one of top NGOs in India, has 28 centralised kitchens and two de-centralised kitchens across India. The Akshaya Patra Foundation operates in 29 locations across 12 States in India feeding over 1.6 million children.

Feed school children this Father's Day!

Fathers who believe in their children are those who are able to instil a strong sense of confidence among their children. Children need this. As fathers, you can feed children with values, beliefs and a sense of pride. As the world honours the spirit of fatherhood on Father’s Day, let us lend a helping hand to all those fathers who provide for their family. 

 

 

There are millions of children who are thankful that their fathers allowed them to go to school. These children come from humble families where there are too many mouths to feed and only few people bringing food to the plate. So a non-profit organisation in India - Akshaya Patra reaches out to help these families by feeding the children with wholesome lunch in schools. Now the fathers truly had someone to help them feed their children. 

Akshaya Patra is on a mission to feed the hungry and eventually end classroom hunger. The non-profit organisation is driven by the principle – no child shall be deprived of education due to hunger. As a result, the organisation has been able to feed millions of school children by also promoting education. 

This has turned out to be especially crucial in rural areas where parents cannot practically ensure that their children go to school regularly. Many of these parents are daily wage workers who may work until dusk to be able to feed the family. But when the children are motivated to attend schools due to a nutritious meal served free of cost, this solves a major part of the problem. 

Feeding the children with wholesome lunch has truly turned out to be a mission of physical and mental growth of the children. Isn’t it what all fathers want for their children? You may help some of these fathers by being part of the school lunch mission. Donate to charity today. 

Read our blog on Father’s Day!

Feeding children with nutritious mid-day meals in Uttar Pradesh

Jacques Diouf once said - hunger is not an issue of charity, it is an issue of justice.

Feeding the hungry, therefore, cannot be a one-time job or a temporary charity. It needs to be a mission of a lifetime till this social evil is completely erased. Akshaya Patra is an NGO that’s currently serving mid-day meals alongside the government in various schools around the country as an attempt to feed the hungry. 

 

 

Apart from other parts of India, the NGO is serving mid-day meal in Uttar Pradesh in two cities – Lucknow and Vrindavan. The NGO has ISO-certified centralised kitchens in Lucknow and Vrindavan that are able to serve a total of 2,11,680 children. 

 

Due to these mid-day meals, the NGO is not only able to feed the hungry in Uttar Pradesh but also bring school children back to studies. The NGO’s mid-day meal menu has been modified as per the local palate of Lucknow and Vrindavan. Akshaya Patra serves roti with locally cooked vegetables in Uttar Pradesh as against its South Indian palate. The centralised kitchens that are serving these meals take utmost care in parameters such as nutrition, hygiene, quantity of food etc. This ensures that the children don’t just get a meal but are able to truly enjoy a healthy diet every school day.

The government schools that are benefitted by the NGO in Uttar Pradesh have testified a rise in school attendance due to the serving of mid-day meals. Akshaya Patra has made it its mission to feed the hungry and bring children back to school by combining the two causes intelligently. 

The NGO needs more contributors in order to expand its reach in more cities in Uttar Pradesh. You can sponsor a child today.

What charitable organisations in India are truly practising?

Phillips Brooks had said – charity must begin at home but must not stay there. There are hundreds of charitable organisations in India that are taking their work to the whole world. They are making the world notice vital causes that influence mankind. One such charity in Bangalore is the Akshaya Patra Foundation that has combined the cause of education with feeding the children.

It’s a charitable trust in India that’s dedicated to serving mid-day meals to school children. Its centralised kitchens are located in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and UP. 

Charitable organisations such as this are practising fair ways of carrying out educational missions for children in India. The charity in Bangalore has set standards of transparency in terms of accounts, funding, online fund-raising and distribution of resources. Every charitable act conducted by organisations such as this has been influencing a whole life of a child. 

These organisations are also setting great examples of accountability – a trait that’s especially needed in today’s world replete with corruption. Channelising technology and social media, these charitable trusts are involving people actively in their missions in India. Today, these organisations are tech-savvy bodies that move intelligently and keep their donors in complete knowledge of their processes and execution.

This is steadily building the confidence of people and encouraging them to donate towards charitable trusts in India. Education and children are the two factors that are crucial for a more intuitive and futuristic society. Investing in these is equivalent to investing in your own future. This apart from the satisfaction that you get to positively make a difference into the lives of children is personally gratifying. Donate for this charity today.