The Akshayapatra Foundation

Shining through

2009-11-17T01:30:00.000-08:00

The Akshaya Patra Foundation made waves at the recently held PAN IIT conference in Chicago. Amongst the 2000 delegates attending the conference, were Sri Desh Deshpande, an IIT alumni and an accomplished IT professional, and his wife, Jaishree.

Sri Deshpande is also the Chairman of TAPF in America.

Although disappointed, Sri Deshpande was looking forward to hearing President Bill Clinton’s address as a keynote speaker. “President Clinton had everyone spell bound for 60 minutes!” he tell us. During the talk, President Clinton mentioned Akshaya Patra four times and had the audience abuzz with excitement. Sri Deshpande had mentioned our work to President Clinton in an earlier instance when he had the opportunity to travel with the President and Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to Haiti, in AirForce ONE, to see their Mid Day meal program. “They serve 100 children a day, which looked impressive. But when they learnt about Akshaya Patra serving a million meals a day they were stunned!”

It makes us very happy that our work is being recognized at the global level. We’d like to specially thank Sri Deshpande, Nishith, Madhu, and Ravindra for their many efforts to drill the Akshaya Patra message and position it as the largest mid-day meal program in the world at the Clinton Global Initiative.

You can help us stand for children everywhere too! Support us today!

Times of disaster: Helping those who need help the most

2009-10-12T05:59:00.000-07:00

Disaster always calls for urgent measures. At times like this the country stands up to support those stricken by the tragedy and often support pours in from all corners. On the other hand, this is also a time, when people want to help but don’t know how or where to contribute and help. A fair section of those who give at this time end up getting disappointed, as they never hear about what happened to their money. That’s where organizations like ours step in to make a difference.
Akshaya Patra has been swift to respond to the need of the hour, helping victims of unfortunate tragedies. The recent example is of the floods in the Bellary district. Between 29 September-1 October 2009, Bellary district experienced heavy rains, which damaged agricultural fields, flooded the region, destroyed houses, and resulted in loss of life. The distriction administration reached out to Akshaya Patra on 2 October 2009, asking us to supply food for 10,000 people in the flood-affected areas of Bellary and Shirguppa Taluka.

While we geared up to meet the challenge in our kitchens, we knew that access to the people affected would not be easy! The villages were badly affected and the condition of the roads made the interiors inaccessible. However we rose to the challenge and began preparing the food immediately. We carried it to the concerned locations and were delivering it till 11 p.m. on the same day.

In the meantime, we had had further requests to from the Government of Karnataka to make 5000 food packets each for Mantralayam (AP State), where pepople from Karnataka were trapped in the different guest rooms, struggling for life and food; and for Shiraguppa Taluka. These food packets were taken from the Jindal Airport and loaded in the three Indian Airforce helicopters, which took them forward for distribution.

Akshaya Patra continued to feed the people of the flood-affected areas for three days, serving lemon rice or vegetable pulao for lunch and rice, sambhar, and yogurt in the evenings. Our regular school meal vehicles were used for this operation. On 4 October, we distributed another 20,000 food packets through the Indian Air force and Army helicopters to the neighboring districts of Bagalkot, Bijapur, and the Shiragoppa Taluka, in all sending 42,000 food packets.

Standing up for the nation and our people, makes us reflect on the all-important purpose for our existence. We work hard to ensure that children across India, don’t lose out on education because of hunger. Our robust systems and technology has enabled us to feed over a million children everyday. Standing for the spirit of upliftment of society, we are honored to have been the chosen partners for the food distribution activity during this disaster. Our kitchens, cooks, drivers, and all our staff members rose to the occasion, meeting the extra food demand for food, with courage in their hearts and one determination – to get the vessel of Akshaya Patra to supply “unlimited food” to those affected!

If you would like to support Akshaya Patra’s endeavors, please visit our website today.

Global giving made easy!

2009-09-09T23:55:00.000-07:00

Ever heard about a world-changing idea that you wanted to support, but didn’t know how to? Thanks to websites such as GlobalGiving, it is easier than ever now!

An open, transparent marketplace, GlobalGiving is a platform that connects ideas and solutions that change the world with people who want to support such initiatives. Offering donors a simple, efficient, and accountable way to give, GlobalGiving helps projects across the world.
Recently we at Akshaya Patra, registered ourselves on this platform. It gives us the opportunity to introduce our cause to a global audience and thus enables people from across the globe to support us. However, adhering to all the mandatory requirements wasn’t enough. To be considered as an eligible charity on this site, we need to raise $4000 from 50 donors, in a month’s time. Difficult it was, with the support of friends like you, we have crossed the amount but you can keep supporting us to win a bonus from global giving.

Therefore, we sincerely request to all friends of Askhaya Patra to help us by spreading the good word and supporting our cause. Please visit our page and donate at:
http://www.globalgiving.com/projects/sponsor-school-meals-of-200-000-children-in-india/

Your contribution will play a significant role is assuring us registration and visibility on this site, which in turn will help us feed more children across India.

Please hurry! Our time ends on September 18, 2009, (11:59 pm EDT). We need your support today!

Dial 1800-425-8622 for more information

2009-09-09T06:03:00.000-07:00

When did you last give to charity? More importantly, do you know what happened to the money you sent? And do you know who you can speak to in order to find this out?

It's sad but true, that not all charitable organizations give you accountability of your money and donations. Therefore a donor who is convinced about a cause willingly sends in money to support the charity but loses faith when they are not responded to.

In striking contrast, transparency and donor communication are the cornerstones of Akshaya Patra, and we strive hard to keep all our donors informed on our activities through the year. Not only do we send out regular online and print newsletters, but we also update our website and blog regularly to inform donors of how we are growing and spending their money.

More importnantly, our Toll Free Number is widely available to all our donors, making it easy for you to call and speak to one of our executives in order to obtain information on anything regarding Akshaya Patra. If you want to find our about our specific areas of work, how we make this school meal program available to one million children everyday, how our kitchens work at clockwork efficiency, and so on, dial us today at 1800-425-8622.

Operators are available at this number from 9:30 am to 7:00 pm and will willingly answer all your queries. Individuals wanting to volunteer or donate, as well as corporate house, interested in partnering with us for their Corporate Social Responsibility initiative are welcome to dial in. We're waiting for a call from you!

A birthday party with a difference

2009-08-10T03:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes support comes to us from unexpected quarters and just goes to prove a point - if we do our job well, someone somewhere notices and justice is done! A recent case of support by an NRI well-wisher is a good example of this.

Ms Madhuri Pai from Hong Kong had heard about Akshaya Patra and our work in providing free, unlimited food for education to underprivileged children in India. Touched by our cause and convinced about our work, she wanted to do something to help our efforts. Ms Pai decided to celebrate her child's birthday with a difference and different it was.

Ms Pai asked all the friends attending the birthday lunch not to get a gift, and instead, asked them to donate any amount of their choice to Akshaya Patra. "Rich kids these days have way more than what they need. We felt it was a waste of resources (both money and mother nature's resources) to get another load of toys that our kid may or may not play with," she says. "There is such a terrible imbalance when we compare this to the underprivileged kids who have too less."

With this thought the Pais thought it was a wonderful idea to use the birthday celebration to channel some much-needed funds to the children supported by the school meal program of Akshaya Patra. The guests were indeed surprised at the novel idea and everyone came forward and donated generously. Ms Pai was able to raise Rs 25,000 and was very thrilled that some mothers left the party with the resolve to do the same thing on their child's birthday. Taking a step towards making a difference is certainly one thing, but facilitating the difference others choose to make is indeed commendable. A heartfelt thank-you to Mr and Mrs Pai.

Charity needs no special occasion

2009-08-03T02:56:00.000-07:00

Trends show that individual giving peaks every time it’s a loved one’s birthday or anniversary in the family. This type of charity achieves multiple purposes:

1. It makes you feel good, driving home the feeling of having done the good deed for the day on your special day.

2. It goes a long way in establishing your relationship with the organization you give to. In all likelihood, you will give to the same organization the next year too. And especially, if the charity has been diligent in keeping you informed on its activities.

3. It actually helps the organization further its cause.

Recently, we had a beautiful case of giving at Akshaya Patra, which we’d like to share with you. Not only does this episode prove that such giving need not be restricted to family occasions, but it demonstrates that giving transcends all barriers.

Naveen, one of our relationship managers, got a call one morning from a potential donor who stated that there had been a breavement in the family, and they would like to make a donation in the name of the deceased one.

As is often the case, Naveen expected that an aged family member had passed away, and the family would perhaps want to feed a few hundred children on an auspicious date. “I was happy to know that he will be supporting our cause, so I went to his home, prepared to explain our vision, mission, our work, and so on,” says Navin. Of course, he was to receive a big surprise when the donor mentioned that they had recently lost their beloved pet – a cat named ‘Prince’ – and that they would like to make a donation in the name of Prince!

Of course, Naveen being the good relationship manager, accepted the amount and presented the receipt to ‘Late Prince’ for an amount that would feed one child for a year.

As a first, this certainly left us surprised! But not before it had also made us wiser on the fact that giving doesn’t really need a reason or a person to be involved… in fact you can give whenever you feel like and as many times as possible.

Thank you Prince for proving this to us!

Run for fun… and a cause!

2009-06-28T22:57:00.000-07:00

On 31st May 2009, the small team of 35 people from Akshaya Patra, was charged with excitement. We were geared for the Majja Run at the Sunfeast World 10K Marathon, being held in Bangalore. Having collected at the Kanteerva Stadium, we were all set for the 5.6 Km run (or brisk walk!) that we were doing to garner support for our cause – unlimited food for education!

With the firing of the gun, our team started running, banner in hand and a smile on our faces. The thrill of running to create awareness for Akshaya Patra was tremendous and we were happy to be speaking about our work and program, to the media and interested individuals. Just like us, various charities had turned up to do their bit and people from all walks of life were running in the spirit of participation.

From the group of 35, 32 of us kept up to our promise to our donors – of running the entire 5.6 Km of the Majja Run; the remaining 3 - Ramaswamy, Williams, and Ravi, did even better – they ran the full 10 Km distance! A big ‘thank you’ to all the people who helped us generate funds from this initiative.

Since the past few years marathons have become a regular activity across the metros in India and each city hosts 2-3 marathons, half-marathons or night-marathons in a year. This is a wonderful opportunity for NGOs like us to tell the people about the work we do and inspire people to come forward to make a collective difference to society. While this time round, we put up a small effort, we would like to magnify this in the forthcoming marathons. We request those of you who would like to run the marathon in your city for Akshaya Patra, to mail us today! Our team of fundraisers will work closely with you to ensure that you are able to make your run more meaningful by asking people to pledge their support for your run. As you run for fun, make it an event to remember – not just for yourself, but for the 1 million children who benefit from your run, when you support for Akshaya Patra!

More for Mysore

2009-06-28T22:36:00.000-07:00

It just seems like yesterday, when we began operations in Mysore! Feeding 8,700 children, the first food vans from our Mysore kitchen drove out to 32 schools in January 2005. What a sense of achievement it was – we had covered Mysore and its neighboring areas. Many corporate houses and individuals had come forth and extended support to The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF), in order to meet with this goal.

Today, with the inauguration of another kitchen in Mysore, there is a tremendous sense of déjà vu! Having pushed numbers to 20,000 from our existing kitchen, we have started yet another kitchen in Mysore… once again, it’s celebration time, as the foundation increases its reach to underprivileged children in and around Mysore. And once again, corporates and individuals have extended support generously to make this happen.

The state-of-the-art facility in Mysore leverages innovation and technology to cater to one lakh children. This has given our program an impetus and we have plans of pushing our reach to 30,000 children in the next couple of months. Of course, as some of you know, our program is already operational in 7 states and 17 locations, now feeding free, unlimited schools meals to over 1 million children everyday.

TAPF thanks Shri B.S. Yeddyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka, for inaugurating the new kitchen and appreciating our program. Immediately after the inauguration, the Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues also served meals to the school children, giving a fillip to our plans of more for Mysore!

A million today, five tomorrow!

2009-06-11T22:17:00.000-07:00

A million… is the number of stars Anita thinks the sky has.
A million… is the amount of money Muthu hopes to make when he grows up.
A million… is also the number of children like Anita and Muthu, who Akshaya Patra feeds everyday!

Our organization has been named after the divine vessel ‘Akshaya Patra’ of Mahabharata, symbolizing unlimited portions to feed countless mouths. While this is taken for granted in historical epics, it is no small feat in this day and age! So today, as we cross the one million mark, we’d like to pay a tribute to all the people who have helped us accomplish this milestone.

Yes, it takes a constant supply of funds to feed one million, but it also takes a few loving, willing human hearts, minds, and hands to feed this number everyday. Inspired and dedicated cooks, cleaners, drivers, guards, supervisors, managers, donors, government authorities, advisors, board members, and missionaries collectively make this possible. We work three shifts a day, cooking, supervising, and delivering hot, nutritious school meals everyday towards our collective dream.

When we began we didn’t have the slightest idea that we’d reach this scale. But our people never miss a schedule at the schools we serve, or an opportunity to grow the program further! All this has been possible only through the unstinted support of our individual and corporate donors, who opened new paths for us, taking us to new heights by fanning our spirits. Bit by bit, we have increased the program scale, feeding more children every month, year after year.

Today, we have reached the target that we had actually hoped to reach by the year 2010. In celebration of this, we are determined to reach out to even more children and transform many more lives – 5 million by 2020. All we ask is that you be a part of this dream too. Take that step today!

Social media that empowers you to make a change

2009-06-08T02:58:00.000-07:00

May has been a busy month for the entire nation! The country has just finished it’s Lok Sabha elections and demonstrated the power of change – the power of voting as one.

This year’s elections also demonstrated the power that the youth of India have – that of influencing change through social media. Net savvy leaders used blogs to communicate with the public. Specially designed websites urged people to exercise their right to vote. Communities and pages dedicated to the elections came up on social networking sites and status messages suddenly read, “Go vote!” all over. The people of India actually took notice and came forth and voted.

The voluntary sector too has woken up to this media. In today’s wired world, it doesn’t take anything for you to be a part of this revolution too. There is a lot you can do for an organization like Akshaya Patra, from your own home. Experience the real potential of your social media presence – help us create awareness and fundraise to provide free, nutritious, school meals to underprivileged children to as many children as possible. Here’s how you can make a start by spending just a few minutes:

Join the Akshay Patra community on your social networking site and encourage your friends to join, volunteer, and donate. If you don’t find a group or a page for our organization, write to us today!

Start your own community educating people on the concept of free school meals for children and ask all your friends to visit our website.

Change your status message for a day – ask people to participate in change through Akshaya Patra!

If you blog, connect our blog to your own!

Include Akshaya Patra in your signature and tagline with every out-going email message. It demonstrates your concern for the community and that you have taken a step for social change.

Come visit our kitchen and see our work and write to your friends and family about it.

Talk to your Corporate Social Responsibility team at work about our cause. Bring them over to visit us and see our work, or ask for a meeting where our representative can educate them on Akshaya Patra.

Let’s start at the very beginning…

2009-06-08T02:56:00.000-07:00

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!

Come rain or shine, we work away!

2009-05-27T04:15:00.000-07:00

Feeding over a lakh children a day, 2 times a day and 365 days a year, is the first Akshaya Patra centralized kitchen. But come summer time and the kitchen activity slows down… have you ever wondered what happens to our kitchens when the schools close for the summers?

Well, here’s what happens…

Sure, our kitchens feed underprivileged school children through our midday meal program. But something that you probably didn’t know, is that Akshaya Patra, the world’s largest NGO-run school meal program, also feeds senior citizens, government run aanganwadis (pre nursery schools) and prisons! So come rain or shine, school or no school, our kitchens work non-stop at supplying hot, nutritious meals to prisons and senior citizens in community halls, twice a day!

But every summer, as we decrease our capacity by 80 percent, we also work at improving the technology and capacity of our kitchens. The months of April and May each year, are utilized for yearly maintenance activities, helping us renovate our equipment, upgrade gadgets and grinders, service kitchen appliances, and make suitable modifications for expansion. Our kitchen also gets the annual face-lift through white-washing and thorough cleaning.

This year, as we increase this kicthen’s feeding capacity by 10,000, we are hoping to increase the capacity of our vessels from 300 litres to 500 litres, enabling us to cook more rice at one go. With the increase in numbers, our distribution team is also looking to add two new vehicles to their fleet of feeding vans. We welcome donations and financial support from all our patrons towards meeting these needs. To make a difference to our program, click here today! Or please ask to visit personally, to see how you can enhance our kitchen operations.

Give your today, we will give you an enriched tomorrow

2008-07-06T21:36:00.000-07:00

Hunger affects nearly one billion people and malnutrition claims the lives of millions of people each year around the world. Children are most often the victims of malnutrition and hunger. It does not make headlines like in a famine or floods but takes its toll on the overall development of our future generation.

But, do we ever think about those underprivileged children who are suffering from hunger? How can we put an end on this hardship?

Education is the best and the only way to remove hunger and malnutrition.

Money has been spend at education, to buy benches, black board, to paint classrooms, even to put up fences around the campus to keep children from running away. But who thought about the food they ate?

But there was one organization that understood that with a hungry stomach no child could concentrate on studies.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation makes a difference in the lives of underprivileged children and their families by evolving a free school meal program in government schools.

We assure that children attend and remain in school to improve overall development, and thereby contribute to more self-reliant, productive societies. We give utmost importance to support children to continue their education.