Every monthly donation helps more kids like Anjali get midday meals
Anjali, Pooja, and Chandu are siblings. Their parents have separated and they live with their father and do not meet their mother. Their father went into debt due to some livelihood issues.
He could not cope with being a single parent and wasn't able to care for them and they were left struggling even for food. They study in Government Higher Primary School, Mysore, Karnataka. The mid-day meal by The Akshaya Patra Foundation is the only thing they look forward to in the day. Anjali says that they love the food they get at the school because it is a lot like the way their mother used to prepare.
It takes very little to help children like Anjali have a decent meal a day.
By donating to this program
you will be sponsoring the overall costs incurred to support the beneficiaries
What the beneficiary gets
Program Description
The Akshaya Patra Foundation provides underprivileged children with a healthy meal a day. The surest way to break this cycle of poverty is through education. Education can improve the quality of life for generations to come.
When the basic needs of a child are not met, education often becomes the last priority. At times like that, a mid-day meal is an incentive for them to continue their education and reduces the dropout rate.
The food is cooked in centralized kitchens and the program is implemented across schools in partnership with the government of India.
Close to 1.5 million children in 10 states are provided with mid-day meals. Donate to this program and you will support one child in a school in a government school in Karnataka. This may be the only good meal they eat in a day and will help them focus on their education without fear
The Akshaya Patra Foundation
Program Updates
22 September, 2023
An update on the program you are supporting
#7
Activities and work undertaken in the last 5-6 months
Total number of beneficiaries impacted was 81 in Karnataka with 40% being females
Challenges faced and next steps
The program stands true to its aim of curbing classroom hunger and addressing malnutrition by providing nutritious and delicious meals to 80+ students. This has helped the students improve socialisation among themselves and also increase attendance for school.
Stories from the ground
GHPS, Rajeevgandhinagar, Dharwad, Karanataka Student Name: Bhagya Heeraiah Hiremath Bhagya Heeraiah Hiremath, a 6th-standard student, lives with her father, a construction worker and mother, a homemaker. Her financial condition is nothing short of a battle for survival and hence, she is grateful for the mid-day meals provided in school. �Now, I do not have to worry about eating healthy. The food provided in school gives me complete nutrition and I am happy that I get at least one full meal in a day,� she says.
5 December, 2022
Mid-day Meal to Government School Children
#6
Activities and work undertaken in the last 5-6 months
New kitchens were inaugurated by Akshaya Patra to reach out to more children. 5 new kitchens were launched in the last 6 months, which means that close to 1,50,000 more children will get access to mid-day meals. At present 18,00,907 children are given mid day meals daily. Mid-day meals are prepared in the centralised and decentralised kitchens with top priority given to hygiene and safety. Locally palatable meals are prepared in a cyclical manner to break the monotony in taste that could lead to wastage of food. These meals are distributed in over 19,039 Government and Government-aided schools to end classroom hunger in children. The school meals served by The Akshaya Patra Foundation are healthy and nutritious. These meals when served on a daily basis, nourish them for a long term and support the overall development of children – physical and cognitive. These meals also act as an incentive for children to come to school every day, thereby reducing the school dropout rates, which in turn helps them get educated. These meals help children focus for a longer time and increases their attention span, ultimately improving their academic scores.
Challenges faced and next steps
The vision of The Akshaya Patra Foundation is to feed 5 million children by 2025. In order to achieve this number, many more kitchens will be launched to ensure that nutritious meals reach to every nook and corner of the country, so that every school-going child from the low-income sections of society is benefitted.
Stories from the ground
Charan Kumar, studying 6th standard at Government High School, Yeshwanthpur, aims of becoming an Army Officer. His family situation is grim. He doesn’t know how far he will go to achieve his dream or what he has to do to fulfil his dream. He is confident that he will be able to manage the physical hardships of life since the school meals he gets to eat free of cost in his school take care of nutritional requirements on a daily basis. He says, “A good meal is essential for one’s growth; it also helps us to be attentive during class hours. I am grateful for the meals I eat at school every day.”
23 May, 2022
Mid-day Meals in Karnataka
#5
Activities and work undertaken in the last 5-6 months
Due to the closure of schools, mid-day meal beneficiaries were deprived of their daily share of nutrition. Hence, to nourish them while schools were closed, Happiness Kits were provided to support their nutrition, health, hygiene, and education. Many dignitaries and famous personalities have supported the implementation of the mid-day meal programme. 51 children are being fed everyday. By receiving mid-day meals every day, their health improved and they were able to concentrate better in the classroom. There was a significant improvement in their physical strength and cognitive ability.
Challenges faced and next steps
Due to the closure of schools, mid-day meal beneficiaries did not receive their daily share of school meals. To nourish them while they studied at home and to support their families, Family Happiness Kits were provided. Each kit contained rice, wheat flour, pulses and legumes, spices, oil, etc., along with learning materials like activity workbooks, colored pencils and crayons, etc. We aim to feed 51 children every day for the next 6 months.
Stories from the ground
PREETI I want to become a choreographer. At the young age of 12, Preeti wants to become a choreographer. She studies in the 6th standard at GKHPS Pottery Town School in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Her mother is a domestic worker and her father is a daily-wage laborer. She works hard to perfect her dance moves and practices day in and day out. She takes part in dance competitions at school, comes back home, recollects the steps and times her dance moves to match the tune of the song. Her parents could not afford to buy a music system, which is why she goes back to school and uses the player to practice dance.
5 August, 2020
A visit to the kitchen and food distribution by the donors
#4
A visit to the kitchen and food distribution by the donors
On 11 December 2019, at the CII Food Safety Quality & Regulatory Summit and Award Ceremony in New
Delhi, The Akshaya Patra Foundation’s Bhavnagar kitchen bagged the prestigious CII Award for Outstanding
Performance and the Thane kitchen received CII Commendation Certificate for Strong Commitment to Good
Manufacturing Practices.
On 20 February 2020, Honourable Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Kamal Nath graced the occasion of
Bhumi Pujan of The Akshaya Patra Foundation at Chhindwara district. The dignitaries present along with the
Chief Minister were Shri Nakul Nath, MP of Lok Sabha; Shri Ravi Jhunjhunwala, President of HEG Ltd.; and
Shri Chanchalapathi Dasa, Vice-Chairman of The Akshaya Patra Foundation.
The Foundation’s Chhindwara kitchen aims to feed healthy and nutritious meals to 7,000 students in 116
Government and Government-aided schools within the first phase. In the second phase, Akshaya Patra aims to
serve school meals to 15,000 students over a period of six months.
3 December, 2019
Awards and kitchen inauguration in progress
#3
Awards and kitchen inauguration in progress
22 July, 2019
#2
Program Update
Akshaya Patra reaches out to 1,762,133 children in 42 locations across 12 states of India, providing them with freshly cooked meal on all school days. Currently, we implement the mid-day meal programme in 15,024 schools of the country, with plans to increase that number to hundreds more.The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been chosen as the BBC World Service’s Global Food Champion 2019.
Shri Chanchalapathi Dasa, Hon’ble Vice-Chairman of Akshaya Patra, received the award at a ceremony held in Bristol City Council, United Kingdom. The CEO of Akshaya Patra UK, Mr Bhawani Shekhawat also attended the award ceremony.
This was the third edition of Global Food Champion, an annual award that honours people or causes that help societies and inspire lives. In 2018, a very talented chef and caring humanitarian, Mr Jose Andres – the man who helped provide 3.4 million meals to people in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria – won the award.
Story from the field
My name is Megha. I am studying in Standard VII at GMHPS, Bellandur, Bengaluru. I love my school very much.
As a survivor of poor childhood nutrition, I have learnt how proper nutrition helps a person to stay healthy. Hence, I wish to pursue a career as a nutritionist. By becoming so, I want to educate people on proper meal planning and its role in keeping oneself free from diseases.
My mother says I was born weak. And, with less immunity, I was prone to falling sick often. During my early childhood, the doctors recommended my parents to provide me nutritious food. But, with the meagre income of my father, who works as a watchman, was not sufficient to buy nutritious meals for me. Therefore, they were worried for my health and survival!Thankfully, I was enrolled in a school in Standard I, where Akshaya Patra had been serving meals. Since then I had been relishing healthy school meals on every single school day. I have a younger brother too who studies in Standard V in the same school. Both of us are Akshaya Patra beneficiaries. Even though we go to school empty stomach, we come back home with tummy-filled happiness as Akshaya Patra serves unlimited tasty meals. As a result of having the nutritious meals daily, I could recover sooner and feel much healthier now.
I thank Akshaya Patra from the bottom of my heart for providing me nutritious mid-day meals regularly.
What is the expected total number of beneficiaries in this program for FY18-19? | 2210806 |
What is the number of beneficiaries/ benefits provided in this program, Year-To-Date | 3436000000 |
Village/City/State where project is located | Karnataka |
Total Budget for the project for FY18-19 | 3919640000 |
Total Expenses for the project YTD | 3435990000 |
30 October, 2018
The Akshaya Patra Foundation's Update
#1
Program Update
The noble cause of The Akshaya Patra Foundation began with serving school lunches to about 1,500 children in 2000 to 5 government schools in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The organisation, known for its dedicated service, now aspires to reach out to 5 million children daily by 2020.
Starting the cause with just 1 van delivering food from a kitchen in Bengaluru across the schools, the Akshaya Patra Foundation now serves over 1.7 million children across 14,173 schools in 12 states across India.
The programme embraced the vision that -
"No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger."
Today, through the partnership with the Government of India and various State Governments, as well as philanthropic donors; the organization runs the world's largest mid-day meal programme. Built on a public-private partnership, Akshaya Patra combines good management, innovative technology and smart engineering to deliver a nutritious and hygienic school lunch.
Story from the field
Nikath, a student of standard 7 from GHPS school, Hennur, Bangalore, aims to become a teacher. A coy child with twinkles in her eyes. While, we prepare to start the conversation with her, we realized her positive outlook.
She hails from a family of 7 members and her father is a rickshaw puller. Even in a situation of hardship, Nikath believes that education is very important to make us all empowered. She draws inspiration from her teachers and aspires to be one in future after completing her higher studies. She shares a passion for playing kabaddi and once, she starts playing it with her friends, you can see the gleam in her eyes.
These children are birds of high hopes and are willing to fly high and reach their dreams. However, hardships are never-ending for them, you can always be that little ray of hope that would brighten up their lives. There are many children who are looking out to your support, Nikath is among them.
While talking to Nikath about the Akshaya Patra school lunch, she happily said, "I love the pulav. The food is fresh and tasty."
There are many children like Nikath, who are looking forward to your support and love. The hardships of life can be really brutal, we as grownups are well-known to it. So it is important to safeguard our children and help them achive their dreams. Your support towards Akshaya Patra can transform lives of over 1.7 million children. Thank you for being the change-maker.
Expected total number of beneficiaries in this program for FY18-19 | |
Number of beneficiaries/ benefits provided in this program this year |