Some thoughts and practices are timeless, like childhood must be nourished and nurtured in all possible ways to provide an amicable environment to children for their holistic development. This is something that has been followed since ages and it holds good even today.
But unfortunately, there are many families who are unable to meet even the basic need, let alone provide proper nourishment to children; and the reason is challenging socio-economic backgrounds. Hence, to bring children belonging to challenging backgrounds at par with regular children, several global and national organisations have steered their effort to support children; one such non-government organisation in India being The Akshaya Patra Foundation.
Feed to nourish and nurture
The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been in the service of children since 2000. The Foundation supports education of children in Government schools and Government-aided schools by providing nutritious mid-day meals to them. Presently, Akshaya Patra is implementing the Mid-Day Meal Programme across 12 states.
Each school day, Akshaya Patra provides lunch to 17,65,597 children studying in 15,668 schools from its self-managed kitchens in 45 locations.
The Foundation implements this programme in partnership with the Ministry of Human Resource, Government of India and various State Governments along with support from philanthropic individuals and corporates. While providing food to children, Akshaya Patra ensure to adhere by the nutritional guidelines provided in the Central Mid-Day Meal Scheme. Akshaya Patra also makes sure children are served tasty meals so it follows locally palatable cyclic menu in all locations. This ensures children enjoy their meals to the fullest and receive maximum nutrition.
More than just food
While in its endeavour to feed the children for the past 18 years, Akshaya Patra has realised that the school meals mean much more than just food. These school meals act as a source of hope for the children who wait for it eagerly every lunch hour. Along with providing necessary nutrients, these meals bridge the gap between children and school. Children who would otherwise have to work to earn their square meal come to school only because of this free meal.
This meal embarks them on a journey of education that allows them to achieve their deep-hidden aspirations.
The Mid-Day Meal Programme has proved itself to be one of the most potential intervention in accelerating the Right to Education mission. And being one of the pioneer Non-Government Organisation in India in the mid-day meal sector, Akshaya Patra has left no stone unturned in trying to benefit more and more children by bringing them under the ambit of this programme.
How can you feed the children of India?
To provide nutritious food and rightful education to all the children across the country is possible, provided the resourceful and empowered citizens work in unison. So, choosing to feed the children by supporting a Non-Government Organisation in India will indeed bring the necessary change. You can either choose to donate to such organisation or volunteer your time and skill with them. Whatever your contribution could be, it will all benefit the young generation making them as empowered as you are today.
Take the opportunity now, to make a change that you will be proud of tomorrow!
Author Profile:
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a charitable trust in India implementing the Mid-Day Meal Programme along with several child-centric initiatives. Your support through online donation can instantly and potentially improve lives of millions of children across India and also benefit you with tax exemption.