Monday, June 8, 2009

Let’s start at the very beginning…

Think children and you’ll certainly think stories… because, every child loves a good story. Today, we’d like to share with you the story of Akshaya Patra’s birth and how our cause of feeding children through a midday-meal program has materialized into a collective dream.

Sunday feasts, bhajans and prasad distribution have always been the highlight of the weekend program at ISKCON centers worldwide. This was a tradition that was started by ISKCON’s founder, Swami Srila Prabhupada and all centers worldwide follow it joyously; devotees and people throng to the temples to enjoy the weekend programs.

In the year 2000, a few years after the ISKCON temple in Bangalore was started, the founder Sri Madhu Pandita Dasa, had a dream – to take Swami Srila Prabhupada’s concept of the prasad distribution to as many people as possible. Thus was born The Akshaya Patra Foundation – an Indian NGO, and a secular voluntary organization that would go on to support school-meals for underprivileged children, not just on Sundays, but through the year!

Feeding school children was important to us as we firmly believe that a child who comes to school for free food, leaves with an education. ‘Unlimited food for education’ not only ensures good performance of the child at school, but also impacts the families of the children who grow up to be equal citizens.

And so, food distribution was started for 1500 children of the neighboring schools. At all times the emphasis was on hot, nutritious food for school-going children. The intent was to serve the children food that was fit for the Gods! Soon a centralized kitchen was set up with technology for super-steam heating of the food, to ensure maximum taste and nutrition. And before we knew it, word had spread and Akshaya Patra was receiving applications to feed over a lakh children everyday!

When the supreme court of India passed a Public Interest Litigation making midday meals compulsory for primary schools, we started working with the governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to support government schools where admission was granted on a secular basis. And, there has been no looking back after that!

Today, Akshaya Patra has grown leaps and bounds, operating in 14 locations in India and we have crossed our mission of feeding a million children everyday. Support from donors and corporate organizations has gone a long way in helping us achieve this. The dream is being realized slowly but surely… and it won’t be long before we take large steps towards achieving our vision – “No child in India shall lose out on education because of hunger.” You can help us make this possible by making a donation today… click here to learn how!

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