How Goodwill Ambassadors make an impact on NGO?

Goodwill Ambassador, as the term suggests, is a person who advocates for a specific organisation or cause. They are mostly associated with causes or fields that promote welfare and development of the community at large. 

Many NGOs – national and international – appoint Goodwill Ambassadors as a means to spread awareness and gather support for their respective causes. The work spheres of the appointed Goodwill Ambassadors are generally related to the cause of the NGOs or they genuinely feel for the cause. For example: if an NGO caters to the development of sports among not-so-privileged children then they will appoint a popular sportsman of the country as their Goodwill Ambassador. 

Similarly, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, a mid-day meal charity in India has appointed Goodwill Ambassadors to promote their cause of supporting education of children by providing school lunch. Here is a list of Ambassadors who are supporting Akshaya Patra by spreading awareness and getting involved with the Foundation’s cause:

Sanjeev Kapoor – A celebrity Chef and Entrepreneur, Sanjeev Kapoor has been closely associated with Akshaya Patra. He has not only helped in raising funds during his visit to the US, but also participated and supervised cooking of 918 kgs of khichdi along with Akshaya Patra to set the world record. 

Divya Sathyaraj – A professional nutritionist, Divya Sathyaraj has immense experience in working with children to improve their nutritional levels. She has also worked with children in refugee camps and has been associated with many NGOs.

Chef Ramasamy Selavaraju - Chef Ramasamy Selvaraju of Vivanta By Taj, Bengaluru, is a celebrated name in the world of culinary. He has been associated with Akshaya Patra for the past four years and have mentored seven ambitious beneficiaries of the NGO who dreams to make it big in the culinary world. 

Shankar Mahadevan – A reputed composer and playback singer had composed a song to mark the Foundation’s one billionth meal celebration. 

Impact of Goodwill Ambassadors

Be it a top NGO like Akshaya Patra or any other NGO, Goodwill Ambassadors potentially increase the NGO’s connectivity with the audience. In many ways, they amplify the role of NGOs by affirming that despite diversity in the nature of work, each NGO constructively contribute to the upliftment of the society. Depending on the popularity, people start associating a charity with the Goodwill Ambassador. Thus, Goodwill Ambassadors help charities gain visibility, reliability, and support for their respective causes.

Hunger Action Month - A Campaign to Fight Hunger

“There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread” – Mahatma Gandhi.

Fortunately, most of us do not have to think about where our meal will come from. Either it will be prepared at home or we can order a sumptuous meal at the click of a button. But, there are many who are not privileged even to get even a square meal per day. And, the number of such people are as high as 815 million, globally. Yes, hunger is an epidemic that has spread across almost all parts of the world. And, with 190.7 million people who suffer from hunger each day, India is home to 1/3rd of world’s hungry population. This is where food providing NGO role in India becomes extremely significant.

Hunger Action Month

The month of September is observed as a Hunger Action Month across many countries. The origin of it dates back to 2008 when Feeding America, a United States-based non-profit hunger relief organisation, felt the need of a nationwide participation to deal with the hunger crisis. Since then, Hunger Action Month is observed annually with the aim to spread awareness and act to end hunger. This month-long campaign is a platform for the entire community to work together and ensure access to food for needy people. 

And, the best part is, hunger is a solvable problem!

How hunger affects sustainable development

Food is the basic need for survival for any living being. It provides the required energy to do all activities – physical and cognitive. When the stomach is empty, the only thought that clouds the head and heart is, food! In general, hunger leads to low immunity, deprived health, malnourishment, and delayed growth and development.

Hence, as an intervention several NGOs have taken up food as the core cause of their service, and The Akshaya Patra Foundation, an NGO for children in India is one among them. Akshaya Patra has been in the service of providing nutritious meals to children since 2000. It implements the Mid-Day Meal Scheme across 12 states of the country and strives to eliminate classroom hunger to support education. Akshaya Patra’s cause is in sync with two Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations i.e. Zero Hunger and Quality Education. Classroom hunger leads to:

• Lack of energy
• Lack of concentration
• Low levels of learning 
• Low academic performance 
• Lack of interest in school activities

Inferencing from the above-mentioned, it becomes evident that hunger poses as a major hurdle in sustainable development and progress of a country and the global community as a whole. 

How can Hunger Action Month aid in improving Global Hunger Index 

Global Hunger Index is a multidimensional statistical tool to measure the hunger status of countries across the world. The scores on this scale indicates the progress and failures in the fight against hunger globally. Remaining specific to India, 

India ranks 100 among 119 countries in Global Hunger Index 2017. It has been categorised under the ‘serious’ range. 

But, Hunger Action Month gives an opportunity to improve the hunger scores at a global level and at a national level. As a food-based NGO for children, Akshaya Patra campaigns for Hunger Action Month annually and urges supporters to generously participate in the campaign with the sole intention of creating a sustainable solution for hunger. When children are well-nourished and well-educated, they will grow up to be healthy, skilled, and resourceful citizens. Such citizens not only add prosperity to the family but also to the entire nation. Thus, there is a direct correlation between number of resourceful citizens and hunger index.   

Conclusion

As a wrap, it is important to note that hunger is the number one cause of death in the world. This crisis can be dealt effectively only when the entire community actively gets involved to fight against the epidemic called hunger. 

This September, donate to end hunger. Your donation will enable Akshaya Patra to feed more children thereby increasing its present reach of 1.76 million children. You have the power to end hunger, use it by supporting school meals of children.

“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one” – Mother Teresa.

NGO in Lucknow, its Kitchen and mid-day meal

The Mid-Day Meal Scheme is an initiative of the Government of India to provide nutritious school lunch to children of government schools and government-aided schools across the country. Over the years, this Scheme has proved itself to be a supporting pillar in the success of education-related initiatives too.

Studies show that mid-day meal has had a positive impact in increasing enrolment, attendance, and performance of children. It has also played a major role in reducing drop-out rate among children. To amplify this impact, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, a mid-day meal NGO has been sustainably expanding its operations and strategically increasing its beneficiary base so that more and more children can be benefitted. It began providing mid-day meal in Uttar Pradesh by establishing a centralised kitchen in Vrindavan in August 2004. 

Akshaya Patra has two centralised kitchens in the state – Lucknow and Vrindavan. On each school day, it provides freshly cooked, locally palatable, nutritious meals to more than 2-lakh children in Uttar Pradesh. The below table shows the location-wise reach of Akshaya Patra in Uttar Pradesh:

Akshaya Patra meticulously designs its meal menu to suit the local taste while keeping the recommended nutrition levels intact so that children readily consume the meal and gets nourished appropriately. So, as an NGO in Lucknow and Vrindavan, Akshaya Patra’s mid-day meal menu consists of items such as plain rice, black chana pulao, vegetable pulao, roti, mixed dal, bottle gourd chana dal, palak dal, mix vegetable curry with soya chunk, aloo matar, aloo desi chana sabji, aloo rajma, raitha, and kheer.

Impact of the meal

Archana, a Standard VI student of Salempur-Pataura Primary School in Kakori, Lucknow, has become an inspiration for many at a very early age. An ardent athlete, her tryst with track-and-field began when she was in Standard III. Her Physical Education teacher has supported her and motivated her to keep improving in her talent. 

Over the past years, Archana has won many medals and trophies in various field events, and the most celebrated among them are her gold medals in long jump, 100m, 200m, and 400m sprint. She says fitness and health is primary when she is training and practicing and hence she eagerly waits for Akshaya Patra meals because this meal provides her with the required nutrition. She looks up to P.T. Usha as her idol and the children of her school, her village, and neighbouring villages looks up to her as their idol. Archana aspires to serve the nation by joining the Police Force. And, believes that her sports background will be an added advantage in attaining her goal. 

Archana is just one among the 2-lakh beneficiaries of the NGO in Lucknow who is gradually stepping towards her dream for the simple reason that she has got the opportunity to attend school and is receiving healthy meals every day. Now, imagine the effect and transformation among children when each of them is supported with mid-day meals! 

Support school meals and get tax benefits

Join the efforts of Akshaya Patra in providing mid-day meals to children. Your donation will have a dual benefit – first, it will support education of children by providing them with nutritious school meals; second, your contribution will be considered as tax deductible donations. So, use this opportunity to benefit children in need and get yourself exempted from tax too. Donate now!

Akshaya Patra's relief service during natural disasters

Food, water, and shelter are the basic human needs. But, uncontrollable natural calamities such as earthquakes, floods, and the like snatches away these amenities in an instant. During such challenging times, the entire human community comes together in aid of the sufferers. As a response to tackle these calamities, many NGOs have taken up relief services as their core cause providing immediate relief like rescue, temporary shelter, provision of food and water, etc. along with helping people to resettle and deal with the after effects of calamities. Addition to these specialised relief NGOs, there are other NGOs such as The Akshaya Patra Foundation who step in to provide help during natural disasters.

Akshaya Patra’s disaster relief services

Akshaya Patra is an NGO in India providing mid-day meal to more than 1.7 million children on each school day across 12 states. Aside from its core cause, this NGO is actively involved in providing relief services during natural disasters by providing food and water to affected people. They have not only helped distressed people in India but also across the borders in Nepal. Below is a quick overview of Akshaya Patra’s proactive response so far:

Aside from the above mentioned, Akshaya Patra was also quick to respond to the devastating situation in Kerala and Coorg. The NGO is currently providing food to the affected people of these regions on a daily basis. Akshaya Patra has been serving all three meals – breakfast, lunch, and dinner - in Kerala since 13 August 2018 and in Coorg since 20 August 2018. So far, it has served more than 1.5 lakh meals as part of its relief service. Click here to read more on Akshaya Patra’s disaster relief services.

Be a part of Akshaya Patra 

You can be a part of Akshaya Patra’s cause and its disaster relief activities by signing in as an NGO volunteer. By being a volunteer, you will not only be involved in the service of children but also be of help to people in distress. You can also raise funds for this NGO in India that will help to provide school meals to children and also help in providing disaster relief. Act now. Be a part of Akshaya Patra today!

The impact of mid-day meal in Andhra Pradesh

Headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, The Akshaya Patra Foundation began its journey of providing mid-day meals in Andhra Pradesh by establishing itself as a NGO in Visakhapatnam in October 2008. Since then there has been no looking back, and over the past 10 years, this NGO has strategically and sustainably expanded its reach to three more locations in the state namely Kakinada (2015), Mangalagiri (2015), and Nellore (2017). The Foundation operates centralised kitchens in all the four locations and provides locally palatable meals on each school day to children of these locations. The below table shows the location-wise reach of Akshaya Patra in Andhra Pradesh:

Impact of mid-day meal 

Over the years, Akshaya Patra has seen tangible impact of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Andhra Pradesh and across India. This Scheme has significantly improved enrolment rates, regularity and attendance of children, immunity and health of children, concentration levels, and academic and co-curricular performance. The below-mentioned determined goals of children are a testimony to the positive effects of mid-day meals in nourishing and nurturing young hearts of Andhra Pradesh:

By providing mid-day meal in Andhra Pradesh, Akshaya Patra is striving to nourish children with healthy food and nurture their dreams by supporting education. To maximise the impact of the meal Akshaya Patra has designed its menu keeping in mind the local taste of Andhra Pradesh, hence serving items such as rice, vegetable biryani (a popular rice dish), pulihora (tamarind rice), sambar (a mixed vegetable and lentil curry), green leafy vegetable dal (lentil curry), pappucharu (a type of sambar), vegetable curry, raitha (a curd-based side dish), janthikalu (a South Indian savoury snack), sweet pongal (a rice-based sweet dish), and banana. 

You can increase the impact 

Akshaya Patra has been implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Andhra Pradesh with the support of the Central Government of India and the State Government of Andhra Pradesh along with philanthropic donors. You can help increase the impact of this Scheme by joining this on-going effort. Your contribution to Akshaya Patra will be considered as donations under Section 80G i.e. you can avail tax exemption on your donated amount. So, when you donate, it is win-win for the child and yourself – the child receives healthy meals and rightful education and you get the benefits of tax exemption. Choose to donate. It just takes Rs. 1,100 to feed one child for an entire school year. Act now!

NGO in Odisha and its mid-day meal impact

The Akshaya Patra Foundation, is a mid-day meal NGO headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka. It implements the Mid-Day Meal Scheme across 12 states of India. It began its journey as an NGO in Odisha in the year 2006 by establishing its centralised kitchen in Puri. Since then the NGO is strategically expanding its reach and over the years it has established centralised kitchens in Rourkela and Bhubaneswar, along with starting decentralised kitchens in Nayagarh.

Each school working day, Akshaya Patra provides healthy, nutritious, and locally palatable meals to 1,61,241 children studying in 1,586 government schools across the state. The below table shows the location-wise reach of Akshaya Patra in Odisha:

By providing mid-day meal in Odisha, Akshaya Patra is striving to support education and uphold the dreams and hopes of children. Hence, to ensure that every child readily consumes the meal and receives adequate nutrition, Akshaya Patra has designed its meal menu for Odisha children based on their local taste including items such as rice barabati (an Odia dry vegetable dish), dalma (an authentic Odia dish made of lentil), along with other items such as rice, rajma mix sabji (a dish made of kidney beans and vegetables), white lobia curry (black-eyed peas curry), mix vegetable curry, aloo matar paneer curry (a curry made of potatoes, peas, and cottage cheese), aloo soya chunk matar curry (a curry made of potatoes, soya chunk, and peas), and kheer (rice-based sweet dish).

What happens when children are nourished every day?

Yes, when children are nourished with healthy meals and nurtured with education, they get the confidence to dream. It makes their determination stronger and firmer. It not only supports their physical and cognitive development but also gives them the hope that their future is better and brighter. To know the children of Odisha and their dreams more closely, click here.

You can create an impact too

With the support of the Central Government of India and the State Government of Odisha along with philanthropic partners such as Rourkela Steel Plant, The Kusuma Trust (UK), RC Infinity Foundation (Kolkata), LIC Golden Jubilee Foundation, NALCO, and the Odisha Mining Corporation, and benevolent donors, Akshaya Patra has by far been able to impact 1,61,241 children in the state. But, there are many more children to be reached.

Join the efforts of the Government and Akshaya Patra to transform live s of children and create a better society. Choose to donate for a child. It just takes Rs. 1,100 to provide unlimited food for education to a child for an entire school year. Make an everlasting change. Act now!

How Akshaya Patra is moulding future heroes?

It is no novel idea that our future is a manifestation of our present deeds. Hence, if we wish to see a bright and prosperous future, we need to work towards it right from now. In line with this, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, an NGO for children in India is nourishing and nurturing 1.75-million children by providing them with nutritious school lunch on each school day across 12 states of India.

Before delving into how this NGO is moulding future heroes, let’s take a quick look at the aspirations of a handful of Akshaya Patra beneficiaries:

Aren’t these children heroes in their own ways? At a tender age, they have already set a goal for themselves and have the willpower to achieve it. Now, it is our responsibility to mould them and make them ready for the future. These were just a handful of aspirations from among over 1.75 million aspirations. Hope stories of children will introduce you to many more such zealous and determined children.

The role of Akshaya Patra

Akshaya Patra is cognisant of the fact that inadequate nutrition hampers age-appropriate cognitive and physical development among children. It hinders the learning process and the ability to concentrate. It also negatively affects the level of immunity and health in children. Thus, as an NGO for children, Akshaya Patra has been in the service of providing freshly cooked, healthy, and nutritious meals to children since 2000. So that more and more children can benefit from the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Akshaya Patra operates two types of kitchen – the centralised kitchen and decentralised kitchen. The centralised kitchens serve food to children in the urban and semi-urban areas, whereas the decentralised kitchens cater to children in remote locations.

Alongside, Akshaya Patra is also honing the talents of its beneficiaries under the initiative called ‘Giving Every Dream A Chance’. This initiative is an attempt by the NGO to guide and train children in various fields of their interest such as dance, theatre, origami, culinary, science, and sports, with the support of other organisations and individual mentors. With this initiative, Akshaya Patra aims to provide a strong foundation to the dreams and goals of children.

By ensuring children receive nutritious meals on each school day, Akshaya Patra is supporting their education. By providing coaching to polish their talents, Akshaya Patra is instilling the hope that their dreams are achievable. Thus,

Be the Changemaker

The actual change happens when the whole society gets involved in the process of altering the present condition. Thus, take your step towards being a Changemaker. This Independence Day, pledge to feed children of India. Your contribution will ensure healthy food and rightful education for millions of children. Be the hero for the future heroes!

New Kitchens of an NGO in Rajasthan Feeds Hungry Children

The seventh most populated state in India, Rajasthan is home to 24% of the population aged between six and fourteen. However, it is also battling with child malnutrition, low literacy, and high out of school and school drop-out rate. Rajasthan is one of the four BIMARU (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh) states that have the lowest literacy rate and learning outcomes compared to other states in the country.

Rajasthan has the fourth lowest literacy rate in the country and has the lowest female literacy rate of just 52.66% (Census 2011). Amongst the several measures taken by the Central and State Government to improve this situation, the Mid-Day Meal Scheme is proving to be a potential intervention. To further the efforts of government, many NGOs such as The Akshaya Patra Foundation has partnered to provide mid-day meal in Rajasthan.

It has been 14 years since Akshaya Patra is providing mid-day meals in Rajasthan. It began serving meals from 2004 by establishing its first centralised kitchen in Jaipur. Witnessing the impact of the meal in the health and education of beneficiary children, this NGO in Rajasthan strategically expanded its operations to Baran in 2005, Nathdwara in 2006, Jodhpur in 2013, and Ajmer in 2016. Recently, in 2018, the Foundation inaugurated two new centralised kitchens in Bhilwara and Jhalawar. With the addition of these two new locations, the Foundation is nourishing 26,701 more children thereby increasing the beneficiary base to 2,27,253 children from the earlier 2,00,552.

The Bhilwara is the 6th and the Jhalawar is the 7th kitchen in the state. The cost of the Bhilwara kitchen construction was sponsored by Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (a Navratna Enterprise of Government of India). It is currently feeding 11,480 children in 83 schools. The Jhalawar kitchen has been sponsored by D.S. Group and is currently feeding 15,221 children in 157 schools. All these kitchens directly impact the health and education of children. The beneficiary children receive at least one nutritious meal per day and eventually receive the much-needed education.

Here is the location-wise reach of this NGO in Rajasthan:

The expansion of Akshaya Patra’s operations is a result of support from the Government and philanthropic donors. It is a testimony that when the government and the community come together for a cause, it multiplies the impact. Thus, choose to be the catalyst by contributing donation for NGO. Your donation will positively change the lives of children and will be an important intervention in the progress of the country.

Akshaya Patra's Mid-day Meal Secret

Have you ever read or viewed an interview of a successful personality where the interviewer doesn't include the question, "What's the secret behind your success?" Guess not! Call it the awe of success or impact of the achiever, all of us want to know what do these achievers do differently that they reach such inspiring heights. And, the same question has been posed to The Akshaya Patra Foundation because of the magnitude of work carried out by the Foundation.

Akshaya Patra is an NGO that implements the Mid-Day Meal Scheme across 12 states in India. The Foundation is headquartered in Bengaluru and has been in the service of children since 2000. The Foundation provides mid-day meals to more than 17-lakh children across 38 locations in 12 states on each school day. Turning back the pages to 2000, this NGO began providing meals to just 1,500 children in five schools in Bengaluru and today it is nourishing lakhs of with healthy and nutritious meals. And, this popped the question, "What's the secret behind this scalability?" So, let's begin from the first!

- Importance of mid-day meal

For many of us, we don't have to worry about our next meal. Alas, that's not the case for many children across the country. These children hail from not-so-privileged backgrounds and thus are faced by the uncertainty of receiving meals. In a scenario like this, mid-day meal comes as a ray of hope for these children and their parents too. Mid-day meal acts as an incentive for parents to send their children to school with the hope that the children will receive at least one proper meal for the day. This brings children to school. And, once they are at school, they not only receive stomach full of wholesome meals but also the much-needed education. The mid-day meal is a win-win for health and education - be it for the specific sector or for the growing children. 

- Akshaya Patra kitchens and meal

To implement the Mid-Day Meal Scheme and benefit children right from the grass root level, Akshaya Patra operates two models of kitchen - the centralised kitchen and the decentralised kitchen. The centralised kitchens are huge cooking units that can cook up to one lakh meals per day. The mega kitchen in India serves meals to schools located in urban and semi-urban areas. The decentralised kitchens serve meals to children in remote areas. Currently, the NGO operates centralised kitchens in 36 locations and decentralised kitchens in two locations. These kitchens follow standard operating processes and many of the kitchens are ISO certified facilities.

The NGO adheres to the nutritional requirement as stated in the Central Mid-Day Meal Guidelines. However, it also prepares its meal menu to suit the local taste so that children enjoy their meal and consume it readily. Thus, Akshaya Patra's meal is freshly cooked, nutritious, hygienic, and tasty.

- Akshaya Patra food is...

- So, what's the secret behind Akshaya Patra’s meal?

Nutrition content, spices, special recipe... we can keep guessing and adding to this list. But, the real secret behind the dedication, efforts, expansion and sustainability of the Foundation is the smile and satisfaction on a child’s face after having a plate full of fresh and healthy meals. This video will reveal what keeps Akshaya Patra motivated to reach out to more and more children.

- Conclusion

Maybe we all have a secret to our success, or maybe the 'determination to achieve something' itself becomes the real ingredient for our success. However, for this Foundation, the smiles and aspirations of children are the reasons or say the ‘secrets’ for the success of implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme for the past 17 years!

5 Food Hygiene and Safety Principles Followed By Akshaya Patra

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a mid-day meal NGO in India headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The Foundation has been in the service of children since its inception in 2000. With a vision, “No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger”, the Foundation strives to provide freshly cooked, wholesome, and tasty meals to school going children. Currently, Akshaya Patra provides mid-day meals to more than 17-lakh children on each school day and it aims to feed 5 million children by 2020.

As they say, the greater the expanse of work, greater is the responsibility. And, it is evident in Akshaya Patra’s field of service. The Foundation makes use of the centralised kitchen concept to serve meals in urban and semi-urban areas, and the decentralised kitchen concept to provide meals in remote areas. Preparing and serving lakhs of meals every day is not an easy task and to serve hygienic and clean food requires utmost diligence and commitment. Thus, to ensure that children receive hygienic and safe food each time, this  NGO in India follows several measures during each stage of production – pre-production, production, and post production. Here are five principle hygiene and safety measures followed by each kitchen of Akshaya Patra irrespective of being centralised kitchen concept or decentralised model:

Quality assurance of raw materials: The Supplier Quality Management System incorporating factors such as Supplier Selection, Supplier Qualification, Supplier Rating etc. is adhered to at each kitchen to ensure procurement of the right and the best quality raw material. The raw materials are accepted only after thorough quality inspection to confirm it meets the Foundation’s raw material specifications that has been adapted from Food Safety and Standards Act 2006.

Storage and handling: Perishable raw materials like vegetables are either procured daily or stored in cold storage. Dry raw materials are stored in dedicated storage rooms. To ensure use of fresh raw materials, all the kitchens follow the FIFO (First In First Out) and FEFO (First Expiry First Out) methods while issuing raw materials for production.

Sanitisation: All raw materials are thoroughly washed and cleaned with potable water. The kitchen equipment and cleaned before and after use and are sterilised using steam.

Protective gears: All kitchen employees mandatorily follow hygiene practices like hand washing and sanitisation and make use of protective gears such as masks, gloves, boots etc.

Food packing and transportation: The cooked food is packed in insulated vessels and are transported to schools in customised insulated vehicles. The insulated vessels and vehicles retain temperature and ensure meals remain fresh till it is consumed by children.

With the reputation of being considered as the top NGO in India, Akshaya Patra is well-aware of its purpose and responsibility towards lakhs of children it feeds each day. Hence, it also undertakes various improvement processes to enhance its operations, efficiency, productivity, and certainly hygiene and safety.

All you need to know about Akshaya Patra's Anganwadi Feeding Programme

The Anganwadi programme is an initiative of the Government of India to facilitate mother and child care across the country. Currently, there are 14-lakh approved AWCs and 7,076 ICDS Projects across the country (as per Government press release, 7 February 2014). To further the efforts of government and extend the benefits of Anganwadi programme, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, an NGO for children.

Primarily, Akshaya Patra is an implementing arm of the Government’s Mid-Day Meal Scheme. Every school day the Foundation serves freshly cooked wholesome school lunch to more than 17-lakh children in 36 locations across 12 states of the country. It strives to support education of children by providing nutritious meals to them at school. However, aside from this core programme, Akshaya Patra has also undertaken several other feeding and social initiatives, the Anganwadi feeding programme being one of them.

Here is a quick overview of the Akshaya Patra’s Anganwadi feeding programme:

• By implementing this programme Akshaya Patra aims to provide nutritious meals to children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers of Anganwadi centres;
• Presently, Akshaya Patra is serving nutritious meals at 4,786 Anganwadi centres in nine locations of five states – Hyderabad, Jaipur, Baran, Vadodara, Surat, Ahmedabad, Vrindavan, Narsingi, and Warangal;
• The NGO has a beneficiary base of 1,61,410 young children and 6,410 pregnant and lactating women;
• Akshaya Patra carries out the Anganwadi food supply by preparing meals in their centralised kitchens that deliver it to the centres in their customised meal delivery vehicles;
• The cost incurred to provide meals to one beneficiary for one year is Rs. 675.

By providing food in Anganwadi centres this NGO is aiding one of the main services of the Anganwadi centres i.e. nutrition and health. The Foundation has witnessed tangible change among the beneficiaries and strives to expand this programme to other locations too.

However, to do so, it requires support from the entire community because only when community, government, and NGOs work together, the necessary changes can be achieved. So, support Akshaya Patra by opting to contribute online donations for NGO. Your contribution will ensure nutrition-rich diet for millions of young children and will provide the needed nourishment for expecting and lactating mothers.

Best Charity to Raise Fund on Your Special Days

Special days such as birthday, anniversary, house-warming, wedding etc. calls for a special celebration. And, more often than not, we engage in partying, feasting, holidaying, and gifting. But, have you ever taken a moment to ponder if you can celebrate your special days in a way that can transform lives? Read on to see how you can make your celebrations more special.

Call it generosity, thoughtfulness, or care – offering charity on special days reflects the humanitarian trait in you. It also adds goodwill into your lives and lets you evolve as a better human. All NGOs – big or small – encourages acts of charity and has a dedicated platform to engage people in their respective causes. In line with this, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, an NGO for children has provided several opportunities for people to get involved with their cause of providing food to children. This is an Indian NGO with a credible record of 18 years in implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme across the country. With the vision, ‘No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger’, this NGO presently provides freshly cooked, nutritious, and tasty meals to more than 1.7 million children studying in government schools across 12 states.

Among the many choices provided by the Foundation to get involved with their cause, charity fundraising on your special days gives you a chance to make your celebrations more meaningful and special. You can celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, house-warming ceremonies, weddings, professional success, festivals, or just about any special day close to your heart by offering charity to this Foundation that is considered as one of the top NGOs in India. Your contribution will be utilised to provide school lunch to millions of children. In fact, by contributing just Rs. 1,100 you will be able to provide food for one child for an entire school year. Now, isn’t that worth a spend?

Time and again, Akshaya Patra also runs various campaigns to create awareness and raise funds for their cause, another avenue for you to fund raise and mark your special days. The Back to School Campaign is one of the on-going campaign of The Foundation aimed at raising funds to provide meals to children for a new academic year because more often than not, the school meal is the reason parents send their children to school.

As a wrap, do think of charity fundraising for Akshaya Patra as an option to celebrate your special days. Your noble choice will provide food to children, support their education, and transform their lives. Not to forget, it will add goodwill in your life and wholesomely treat the humanitarian trait in you!

How Children in Gujarat Benefit from Mid-Day Meal Scheme?

Gujarat is the second state after Tamil Nadu to implement the Mid-Day Meal Scheme across government schools. This Scheme makes the provision to provide freshly cooked meals to children of government and government-aided schools on every school day, completely free of cost. The chief objectives of this scheme are to address classroom hunger, malnutrition, and support education of children. In order to maximise the reach, the government has partnered with NGOs to implement the Scheme. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is one of the mid-day meal NGOs that has been serving nutritious meals to children since 2000. The Foundation currently provides healthy and tasty meals to 1.7 million children across 12 states of India.

Remaining specific, Akshaya Patra started serving mid-day meal in Gujarat in 2009 by establishing its centralised kitchen in Vadodara. Presently, Akshaya Patra operates five centralised kitchens in the state - Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Vadodara, Surat, and Kalol. The kitchens in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat are ISO 22000:2005 certified facilities whereas the kitchens in Bhavnagar and Kalol are in the process of certification; thereby testifying the Akshaya Patra’s utmost priority towards cleanliness, hygiene, and other obligatory operational aspects in carrying out the mid-day meal programme effectively and efficiently.

Across all operational locations, Akshaya Patra follows a locally palatable menu so that every child consumes the mid-day meal readily and enjoys it completely. So, as an NGO in Ahmedabad, Akshaya Patra’s meal menu is designed around Gujarati palate such as:

Peas pulao, kabuli chana pulao, vegetable pulao, groundnut jeera pulao, soya chunks pulao, lauki khichdi, jeera rice, plain rice, soya dal, chana dal, dal fry, mixed dal, roti, thepla with til and mix vegetables, thepla with potato, thepla with louki, mix vegetable curry, mixed vegetable with desi chana, and dal dhokli.

In addition, to make this meal more nutritious, Akshaya Patra recently started fortified rice feeding in Ahmedabad benefitting 1,15,578 school in 522 schools. Aside from providing mid-day meal in Gujarat, Akshaya Patra is also involved in providing meals at Anganwadi centres in three locations – Ahmedabad, Surat, and Vadodara nourishing and impacting 44,895 children.

Over the years, it has been observed that the mid-day meal has been instrumental in countering classroom hunger and supporting education of children.

This impact has been acceded by teachers and headmasters too. For instance, Ismail Malik, Principal, Antti Kumar Prathamik Shala, Padra Taluk, Vadodara, Gujarat said, "The mid-day meal has brought a tremendous decline in the student drop-out rate. In the primary school, the increase in attendance is nearly as high as 60% to 70%. The numerous awards that now decorate the school office are a testimony to this."

Currently, Akshaya Patra is providing nutritious meals to 4,07,452 children in 1,621 government schools across the state. However, the Foundation wants to extend the benefits of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme to more and more children.
And, it is possible only with your support. Choose to donate to charity because your contribution will transform the lives of millions of children in a healthy and sustainable way.

How Children in Telangana Benefit from Akshaya Patra

Telangana is a promising state showing steady progress in the economic front. However, the state faces a significant discrepancy in its literacy rate. On one hand, Hyderabad records an 83.2% literacy rate, and on the other hand, Jogulamba Gadwal district is struggling with 49.9% literacy rate. It has been reported that the state has an average of 66.54% literacy rate and 26 districts out of a total of 31 districts has literacy rates below the state average. Along with government’s efforts to improve the literacy rate, The Akshaya Patra Foundation is also adding in its efforts to bring children to school by providing healthy and tasty school lunch.

Akshaya Patra in Telangana

Akshaya Patra is an NGO in Telangana serving school midday meal to children in government schools of the state. Akshaya Patra has been operational in Telangana since 2008 and currently operates in four locations namely Hyderabad, Narsingi, Kothagudem, and Kandi. The NGO provides freshly cooked meals to 91,675 children studying in 805 government schools. The Foundation recently inaugurated its largest mechanised centralised kitchen in Kandi with state-of-the-art technology. This kitchen is also the largest amongst all the Akshaya Patra kitchens and the construction of it has been funded by the Infosys Foundation

The beneficiaries of this NGO in Telangana a variety of items as part of the school meal such as rice, lemon rice, sambar (a mixed vegetable and lentil curry), sundal (a South Indian dish, a dry legume-lentil preparation spiced, tempered, along with fresh coconut), pappu (a type of South Indian lentil curry), tomato pappu, vegetable biryani (a popular rice dish), and vegetable korma (an Indian dish made with vegetables and yogurt). 

Let us hear what the beneficiaries have to say of the mid-day meal in Telangana.

Monica Devi, a 15-year old girl studying in Zilla Parishad High School, who belongs to a broken family says, "I am very fond of the meal provided by Akshaya Patra and potato-brinjal curry is my all-time favourite."  "Just before lunch, my friends and I can’t stop thinking about the meal," she adds.

Read more about Monica at: This Akshaya Patra Beneficiary is a True Victor

Venu, a 5th standard student whose parents are daily wage earners says, "My favourite is the aloo biryani served on every Thursday." “My friends and I make sure we don’t miss school on Thursday because of the biryani,” adds Venu.

Read more about Venu at: Exploring more with a language

Soujanya, an 8th standard beneficiary is a class topper whose parents are daily-wage labourers. She says, “I’m lucky to have the Akshaya Patra meals. It is nutritious and tasty. It helps me concentrate in class” She further adds, "I am fond of the fruits and loves the biryani served." 

Read more about Soujanya at: Perfect with Numbers

Beyond school meals

Aside from providing school midday meal, Akshaya Patra is also involved in various socio-developmental initiatives to ensure the betterment of the beneficiaries and the society such as Anganwadi feeding programme, feeding expecting and lactating mothers, scholarship programme, life skills programme, and conducting awareness programmes.

Support meals of children

For many children in government schools, the mid-day meal is an important aspect of their daily lives. It takes just Rs. 1,150 to feed a child for a year! Additionally, a contribution towards a child’s meal is considered as tax deductible donations under Section 80G of the Indian Income Tax Act. This makes supporting a child’s meal a win-win for the beneficiary and yourself. Well, then step forward and benefit a child with food and education.

Make your special days more memorable!

‘A joy shared is a joy doubled.’

As individuals, we have our share of joys and sorrows. But, there is no doubt that during our lifetime we encounter innumerable reasons to celebrate and cherish. And, we celebrate these special occasions in many ways – parties, get-togethers, going on holidays, exchanging gifts, giving surprises and the like. Well, at the end of this short blog you will know that there is another way of celebrating our special days too!

Often times we get so tangled in our daily routine that we hardly get a chance to think anything beyond it. Thus, when joys knock at our door, we remember to open it only for our near and dear ones. Well, here is a person who opened the door for few extra guests:

Manoj Kumar is a Marine Pilot with Reliance Port and Jamnagar Terminal Ltd., Sikka Gujarat. Recently, he had generously donated to an NGO and said, “For me, charity means sharing with my fellow human beings. I had once heard Mr. Narayan Murthy talking about Akshaya Patra and its functioning. I liked the concept and hence got engaged with the NGO. I will keep donating a minimum of 10% of my salary to Akshaya Patra on special occasions such as on birthdays of my wife and sons, wedding anniversary of my parents and the like.” When I heard about Manoj Kumar, I delved into it a little more only to discover that there are many humanitarians like him who choose to make a difference by including the not-so-privileged ones in their lives.

Here, Manoj chose to get involved with Akshaya Patra because he wants to bring about a positive change in the lives of children. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a mid-day meal NGO providing nutritious school lunch to children of government and government-aided schools across 12 states of India. The Foundation has been in the service of children since 2000 and over the 17 years, it has by far sustainably impacted the lives of more than 1.7 million children. The mission of this NGO is to feed 5 million children by 2020. Humongous task indeed but is possible to achieve if we all pitch in for this cause. Akshaya Patra provides several opportunities for everyone to participate in its cause such as online donation, sponsor a school, charity fundraising, along with donating on special occasions, celebrations, events, and festivals. In this way, the NGO welcomes you to be a part of their mission at any time and from anywhere.

In conclusion, it was an eye-opener for me because I never thought of charity as a way of celebrating special days. So, all I would say is let’s make our special days more memorable. Let’s spread joy and goodwill by choosing to donate for special occasion.

Brief glance of all the latest happenings in Akshaya Patra

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an NGO in India implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme since 2000. Cognizant of the significance and importance of the Scheme, Akshaya Patra has been strategically expanding its reach. The Foundation has grown from feeding 1,500 children in one location to feeding 1.7 million children across 36 locations in 12 states. Akshaya Patra has had several milestones during these years, and here are some of the recent developments.

• Inauguration of a hi-tech kitchen – On 30 March 2018, Akshaya Patra inaugurated its largest and one-of-a-kind hi-tech mega kitchen in Kandi, Telangana. This kitchen has the capacity to provide mid-day meals to over one lakh children on each school day. This kitchen has been established in partnership with the Infosys Foundation with the latter granting INR 18.50 crores to meet the entire construction cost of the kitchen. Some of the salient features of this kitchen are Silikal Industrial Flooring, ReFlex Reverse Osmosys System, COMBLOCK Boiler for Steam Generation, and ANDICOS Waste to Energy Generation System. Click here to read more. 

• Introduction of millets in mid-day meal – In order to enhance its NGO role in India as a mid-day meal provider, Akshaya Patra introduced a pilot in partnership with the Government of Karnataka to include millets in the mid-day meal scheme during Organics and Millets 2018, International Trade Fair held between 19 and 21 January 2018. With International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) as the knowledge partner, Akshaya Patra aims to improve the nutritional intake of the beneficiaries. This pilot will serve millet-based dishes like upma, bisibelebath, sweet and khara pongal twice a week in addition to the existing mid-day meal menu to 1,622 beneficiaries across 10 government and government-aided schools. Click here to read more.

• Fortified oats for Gujarat children – In association with PepsiCo Foundation, Akshaya Patra will serve nutritious meals fortified with oats to almost 33,000 children studying in 170 schools in Gujarat. PepsiCo Foundation has committed INR 3.75 crores towards this project and aims to serve 77 lakh nutritious meals to children in the state. Click here to read more.

• MoU signed between Nutrition International India, ICDS, and Akshaya Patra - On 18 May 2018, Nutrition International India, ICDS programme, and Akshaya Patra signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Through this collaboration, Nutrition International India and Akshaya Patra will collectively aim to make the meals more nutritious for the most vulnerable women and children in India, who are served under the ICDS programme through Akshaya Patra’s kitchens. Click here to read more.

• S.S. Rajamouli Support for Akshaya Patra’s #IShareMyLunch Campaign -  #IShareMyLunch - a recent campaign by Akshaya Patra, received wholehearted support by S.S.Rajamouli, the famed Director of the award-winning Indian film Baahubali. He also urged others to support the campaign. Click here to read more.

In conclusion, more and more people are becoming aware of the importance of healthy food and education for the overall development of children. Thus, along with support from the government, Akshaya Patra is receiving sincere support from the Corporate world and the civil society. By choosing to donate to charity you too can be a part of the Foundation’s mission to feed 5 million children by 2020. When we strive together, we create a better world. Support Akshaya Patra today!

How CSR helps Akshaya Patra?

Corporate Social Responsibility often abbreviated as CSR is a concept of giving back to the society and the environment as part of the organisation’s value system. It is a way to assess and take responsibility for the organisation’s effects on the social and environmental well-being. In short, CSR is a way to initiate a lasting change so that the entire society progresses together. Often times, Corporates partner with various NGOs depending on the cause they identify with to fulfil this responsibility.

CSR initiatives prove to be a win-win for both the parties - the Corporates and the NGOs. The Corporates get a platform to fulfil their responsibility towards the society and NGOs receive help to stride closer to their missions. As every NGO have their specific roles so does mid-day meal NGOs. And, The Akshaya Patra Foundation is one such mid-day meal NGO in India that has received remarkable support from many Corporates as part of their CSR initiatives. These CSR initiatives have furthered the Foundation’s cause and also supported its efforts in fulfilling the mid-day meal NGO role in India.

Akshaya Patra implements the Central Mid-Day Meal Scheme in a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. This model helps to garner support from all sections of the society and fulfil the responsibilities for being the NGO role in India. Currently, the Foundation provides mid-day meal to more than 1.7 million children in over 14,000 government schools located in 36 locations of 12 states.

This has been possible due to the unceasing support from the Central Government of India, various State Governments, Corporate donors and Individual donors. However, keeping our focus on CSR, many Corporates have come forward to support Akshaya Patra’s cause of providing nutritious, freshly cooked meals to school going children and supporting their education. Briefly, here are the contributions of some of the Corporate Partners:

• Vista Equity Partners

Vista Equity Partners, a US-based world’s leading investment firm, focused exclusively on enterprise software, data, and technology solutions, partnered with Akshaya Patra by pledging a contribution of USD 1 million over five years to aid in the Foundation's mid-day meal plan. Talking about the partnership, Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners was quoted saying, "Our culture at Vista emphasizes the importance of positively impacting and engaging with the communities in which we live and work. At Vista, we invest in the future. And Akshaya Patra’s work does that. By ensuring that students across India have the nourishment they need to be able to learn, the foundation plays an integral role in the education of Indian youth, and we are honored to help them execute on their mission." Click here to read more.

• Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd.

Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. is one of the world’s leading financial groups, partnered with Akshaya Patra to support the construction of the Foundation’s Narsingi kitchen that will provide mid-day meals to more than 35,000 children in Telangana. At the inauguration ceremony Mr. Ryoichi Shinke, Regional Executive for India, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. Was quoted saying, “MUFG has been present in India for over 60 years and we have been committed to supporting not only its economy but in making a difference to the local community. By supporting this noteworthy initiative by The Akshaya Patra Foundation, we are providing the necessary conditions for children to attend school and do well, so that they may eventually have a brighter future and contribute to the long-term growth of the country.” Click here to read more.

• Rotimatic

Rotimatic is the world’s first fully autonomous and connected robot that mixes, kneads, flattens, cooks and puffs, from flour to flatbread in just 90 seconds. Rotimatic partnered with Akshaya Patra as part of the #RethinkVday campaign and donated 5 cents to Akshaya Patra for every roti (Indian flatbread) made. Also, for every purchase of Rotimatic, the Company will support mid-day meal of one child for an entire year. Click here to read more.

Aside from the above-mentioned, Akshaya Patra is supported by many other Corporates such as Auma, GEP, Landmark Group, Novartis, and NetApp to name a few.

In precis, CSR initiatives are significantly important for uplifting and sustaining positive changes in the society and the environment. It is also heartening to see that in recent years, CSR initiatives have gained quite a momentum and are taken with utmost sincerity by businesses - big and small. And, not to forget, CSR initiatives have helped Akshaya Patra to expand its reach and benefit millions of children. It is good to be a part of the bigger change and with Corporate volunteering Akshaya Patra provides a platform for all Corporates to join hands in providing wholesome food to school children so that they eat healthy and read right. And, as they say, change happens with you, so wouldn’t you step in as an influencer for a better and brighter future?