Sponsor mid day meals to children in Gujarat by The Akshaya Patra Foundation

Sponsor mid day meals to children in Gujarat

Impact

You could be the reason a child finds motivation to stay in school.

Tabassum is a young girl from a very poor family in Gujarat. Her parents used to leave her at home with her baby sister and go for work.

Tabassum’s education was not a priority to them. They did not have money for regular meals and thought of school as an added expense they couldn’t afford.

But she had a better life in store for her. Tabassum was discovered and enrolled in a Bal Shramik, an educational space for children who worked as labourers. They allowed her to bring her sister along so her parents did not object to it.

She was taught recreational activities and both the girls were given a midday meal every day.** Akshaya Patra Foundation brings nutritious, tasty food to these schools so that children like Tabassum don’t go hungry.

Now both Tabassum and her sister go to school every day. Their parents do not have to worry about their lunch and are motivated to send them to school. Mid-day meals are a big reason why many children like Tabassum have a shot at education and a future.

Your donation will give children like Tabassum the food that they need to learn and grow. Donate now to help keep such kids in school. You can give with confidence because every program on our platform is GIVEASSURED.

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Giveassured

By donating to this program

you will be sponsoring the overall costs incurred to support the beneficiaries


About The Program

What the beneficiary gets
Nutrition
What you get
Tax Exemption
Periodic Reports
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 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 the mid-day meal for a child in a Gujarat government school for one year. This may be the only good meal the child will eat in a day and will help him focus on education.

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About The NGO

The Akshaya Patra Foundation
The Akshaya Patra Foundation Logo
The Akshaya Patra Foundation

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a non-profit organisation that was founded in Bengaluru, India to fight issues like hunger and malnutrition by implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in the government and government-aided schools. Aiming also to bring children to school, the organization has worked towards reaching more children with wholesome food on every single school day.

Continuously leveraging technology to cater to millions of children, their state-of-the-art kitchens have become a subject of study attracting curious visitors from around the world. With humble beginnings of serving just 1,500 children across 5 schools their program has become the world's largest (not-for-profit run) mid-day meal programme serving wholesome food to over 1.6 million children from 13,839 schools across 12 states in India.

Their efforts have been recognized nationally and internationally with awards like CII National Food Safety Awards by the CII Food Safety, International ARC Award by the International ARC honoring outstanding achievements in annual reports and Nikkei Asia Prize by the Nikkei in Economic and Business Innovation. Their mission to feed 5 million children by 2020 reflects the 6,550 strong staff's commitment that no child in India shall be deprived of Education because of Hunger.

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founders
Founded in 1991
NGO Leadership

Shridhar Venkat

areas of operation
Area of Operation
Area of Operation

Mid-day Meals | children

location of work
Location of Work
Location of Work

Rajasthan | Odisha | Karnataka | Gujarat | Assam | Uttar Pradesh

awards
Awards And Recognitions
Awards And Recognitions

2016: Ashoka Changemaker School

2016: International Award for Young People

2016: Noble Service Award

2015: Social Innovation and Iconic Leadership Award

last audited
Last Audited
Periodic Compliance Checks by GiveIndia

Renewals FY 19-20

Program Updates

Program Updates

22 September, 2023

An update on the program you are supporting

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Activities and work undertaken in the last 5-6 months

Total number of beneficiaries impacted was 75 in Gujarat 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 70+ students. This has helped the students improve socialisation among themselves and also increase attendance for school.


Stories from the ground

School Name: Ghodpar Primary School, Bhuj, Gujarat Student Name: Aarif Abdul Rehman Aarif Abdul Rehman, a student of Class VII - Ghodpar Primary School, Bhuj, Gujarat, eagerly waits for the lunch break every Monday because that is the day his favourite food is served. � Akshaya Patra food is very good,� he says. �It is never too spicy or salty... it is very good. We get dal, chawal, seng (peanuts), dalia, sukhdi, churmu, etc. On Mondays, we get dal-dhokli, rice and sukhdi, which is my favourite and I look forward to it.� The fact that Rehman has visited Akshaya Patra kitchen in Bhuj adds to his perspective about the mid-day meal. �I didn�t know that there were such big machines. Only when we went there did I realise that such big machines exist,� he adds. The visit left Rehman wondering how much food these machines must be cooking. �We didn�t know the food we eat comes from such a big kitchen,� he admits.


5 December, 2022

Mid-day Meal to Government School Children

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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 every nook and corner of the country, so that every school-going child from the low-income sections of the society is benefitted.


Stories from the ground

KRISH : “I was sitting idle in class one day thinking about different ideas that could be showcased at the science exhibition. I could not think of anything ground-breaking. I went back home after a very tiring day of brain activity. Mom was segregating the waste from the last two days. That’s when the idea struck me. How easy it is for people to do natural composting!” The next day, 12-year-old Krish Patel, a student of 8th standard in Kalol’s Santer Prathamika Shala became a very popular child amongst his teachers. He discussed this idea with his whole school and was applauded by everyone present in the auditorium. He bagged the title of the 1st winner in the science fair, he was given full credit for the fruition of the idea. Born to a couple from the Below Poverty Line (BPL), his father is a daily-wage labourer and mother is a domestic help. He is aware that his passion for becoming a scientist is not feasible due to financial constraints and he accepts this fact with equanimity. More often than not, talented children do not get the opportunity to grow due to financial challenges. One of the teachers in the school says that they have seen a lot of intelligent children in the last few years but nobody like Krish, who knows that he can’t go ahead with his dream, yet remains humble at the same time. Krish narrates a story of how he landed up in his school. “The situation at home was always very edgy. I grew up in a house where every small thing was calculated, be it for my books or even for a plastic cover. We used to and still stack covers of milk packets my mother brings from working at other’s houses and store them so that we can sell them according to their weight to the raddiwalas (scrap dealer).” At a time when we would ration everything at home, my education was an impending burden. But thankfully, there was an option of enrolling me to a Government school. We chose the one closest to my house so that I wouldn’t have to bear the expenses of travel. My parents enrolled me to this school with the thought that I will get to eat at least one nutritious meal a day. Else, they would have stopped my education by now. I get to come to school and have a complete meal while my parents don’t even get to have this. He continues to say, “I get so many opportunities that I would have missed if it wasn’t for this school. Natural composting is one method that I have explored. Slowly I am thinking of other options to support mother earth. Bio-enzymes are my next step. But, given the background of people around me, I am not sure if people like us will be able to procure citrus fruits for the peels.” If not for the school, Maybe I have to think of other options. But for now, I am thankful for being in this school and for the food and friends it has given me. I enjoy all the meals served here but my favourite dishes are Jeera Pulav and Dhokali.


23 May, 2022

Mid-day Meals in Gujarat

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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.

8 children were fed every day. 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 8 children every day for the next 6 months.


Stories from the ground

PRAJESH A young boy who has changed his school from Daman to Gujarat’s CPS Gujarati Medium School wants to become Prime Minister like India’s current Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi. He says, “I still have many years to become a school head boy. I hope I can become one so that I can get to know the difficulties one faces in top positions. See the Prime Minister, for example. He is so busy, but I am sure he faces a lot of difficulties too. I am very young, so I have to learn to tackle problems right now. ”


5 August, 2020

A visit to the kitchen and food distribution by the donors

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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

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Awards and kitchen inauguration in progress






22 July, 2019

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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


Harsh Kishorbhai Dodiya. I study in Standard VIII at Dhumketu Prathmik Kumar Shala - 218, Surat, Gujarat. I like going to school very much. Every day I learn something new at school. Geography gives me a hard time but I love Science.e small science lab in my school allow students to do experiments under teacher's supervision. It helps me to understand practical aspects of science along with theory lessons that are taught in the classrooms. Science lab class is only once a week but I wish we had it every day. It makes me curious how chemical compounds when put together forms essential liquids like water! I want to be a scientist whose discovery will serve a great cause to the whole world one day.
I stay with my uncle and aunt along with my three elder sisters and grandfather in a small thatched roofed kuccha house. My uncle is a brick layer (mason labourer). Every morning, he stands in the market, waiting for contractors to come and choose labourers for the day’s work at construction sites. As the only earning member of the family, he knows that if he is not chosen for work that day, he will come home empty handed without any food to feed us. But, due to his pleasant behaviour, contractors often offer him jobs, barring some unfortunate days. He always tells me to be polite and treat others with respect. He loves us very much.
He took all the pains to enrol four of us (my sisters and me) in a school. I thank Akshaya Patra for serving free healthy mid-day meals to all the children at my school. It keeps me full for the day. Khichadi, sabji and thepla are my favourite dishes in mid-day meals.


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-Date3436000000
Village/City/State where project is locatedGujarat
Total Budget for the project for FY18-193919640000
Total Expenses for the project YTD3425990000

30 October, 2018

The Akshaya Patra Foundation's Update

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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


During a visit to the Golvanta Primary School, Golvanta, Gujarat we met an energetic but shy child Mayur Kanaji Thakor. A bright and sincere student, he likes playing and his favourite subject is Gujarati which also happens to be his mother tongue. Mayur wants to grow up to be a doctor.
Mayur comes from a family of four with his father as the sole breadwinner with a monthly earning of Rs. 6,000. His mother is a homemaker, and his younger brother is a student in the same school and an Akshaya Patra beneficiary.
Akshaya Patra's mid-day meals are popular in Mayur's school and he loves the food too. On being asked about the taste, he couldn't just resist himself telling us about his favourite food served at school, which is Dal-Dhokli. He says, "It is hot and tasty!" He adds "I only have khichdi and sabzi when I go back home and that's all."
Not-so-privileged economic background is indeed a hurdle but Mayur has not let it become an obstacle in his aspiration. With Mayur's expression of words, it was evident that the 'never-give-up' attitude of this child will help him soar high in life.


We wish him all the luck for a bright future!


Expected total number of beneficiaries in this program for FY18-19
Number of beneficiaries/ benefits provided in this program this year

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