Why Elimination of Hunger Is A Cause We Should All Invest In?

How we take our life on Earth for granted? We hear and witness hard-hitting headlines around the world, of thousands of lives affected every day. One such issue is hunger, a forlorn state where lives get defeated fighting for food. Hunger is the number one cause of death in the world with 795 million of the total world’s population sleeping hungry every day. And out of which 212 million belong to India itself.

At The Akshaya Patra Foundation, each stomach that goes empty is important. Our Mid-Day Meal Programme attempts to feed the hungry with a focus on children going to schools. Did you know that one of the most powerful economies of the world – India – is also home to one-third of world's hungry? As many as 3000 children are becoming victims of hunger and malnutrition every day. Is there a more pressing reason why you should contribute to eradicate hunger?

Is that my cause?

Many of you often think about social causes, to invest a share of your income for a cause you believe in. But then the whole process of making the effort seems challenging and you eventually abandon the thought.

When Akshaya Patra made the ambition of feeding 5 million children in the country by 2020, the organisation was confident that hunger was a cause worth investing in. While most of you think that the role of NGOs is to help the underprivileged groups, you somehow settle with the idea that this cause is not for you. However, Akshaya Patra knows the value of each coin, humbly acknowledging that we cannot run our school lunch programme without your help. The reason why we have several members, workers, volunteers and donors working tirelessly each day is because we all understand that elimination of hunger can safeguard the future of our children.

School children need your attention

Children are the future of the nation and to build a great future, we need to serve them in the present. Hunger prevents them from going to school, playing and learning. Hunger often strips the children off their precious childhood as they are compelled to earn their living.

So Akshaya Patra realised that the most vital demographic in the quest for feeding the hungry is children. Do you think so too? If yes, we urge you to sponsor a child throughout his academic year by investing Rs 750. The small act with a great thought creates a huge difference in their lives. When you choose to sponsor a child, you directly contribute in the making of a complete citizen. Of course, your donation is exempted from taxes.

Today hunger is a challenge before the literate and the healthy. We all need to conspire against hunger if we truly wish to create an equal and competitive society. Small deeds often bring big changes. Donate your share and take responsibility to eliminate hunger in India.

Protect Children’s Rights this Human Rights Day

"To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity. To impose on them a wretched life of hunger and deprivation is to dehumanise them.”

                                                                       ---- Nelson Mandela

Happy Human Rights Day!

December 10 is Human Rights Day. It is on this day; 63 years back the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Though the Human Rights Day was an outcome of the World War II, protecting human rights still remains to be one of the main focuses around the world. This is thanks to the non-profit organisations that have dedicated their time and work to expose different issues affecting humans and initiated actions to protect and support human rights all these years.

Human Rights Day 2015 is dedicated to the 50^th anniversary of the two main covenants on Human Rights- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

While the 2014 theme of Human Rights Day - ‘Human Rights 365’ or celebration of ‘every day as Human Rights Day’ is still going on, the focus  this year will be spreading awareness about the four freedoms – freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.  These freedoms form the basis for the International Bill of Human Rights.

This year, the United Nations is also conducting events to honour the memories of its two major advocates Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt. The four freedoms were first voiced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941 and his wife Eleanor helped add these rights into documents.

In India, protecting rights of children has been taken up enthusiastically by a non-profit organization called The Akshaya Patra Foundation. Delivering nutritious mid-day meals since 2000, the organisation tries to protect children from poverty, hunger, malnutrition and illiteracy.

Starting the efforts with feeding 1,500 children 15 years ago, the non-profit organisation now feeds free mid-day meals to over 1.4 million children in 24 locations across 10 states.  However, the non-governmental organisation wants to reach 5 million children by 2020.

The menu is designed to include all the nutrients for children’s growth and also to suit the local palate. The organisation has custom designed meal distribution vehicles to keep the meals warm and fresh till they were delivered to the children.

These measures have helped improve school enrolment, class attendance and children’s performance. Studies have also shown that children were able to concentrate better in class after they started eating the Akshaya Patra meals.  This initiative has helped bring hope to over a million underserved children in India.

The work that Akshaya Patra has undertaken shows the ongoing efforts to secure children their basic rights in India. This Human Rights Day, let us stand together and fight the issues that Indian children are still facing.

On this occasion, support human rights; support our children’s rights. Serve a filling meal to children on this Human Rights Day and help them to reach their goal.

An Ideal Mid-Day Meal for School Children

An estimate from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that nearly 1.2 billion people in the world are poor.  Poverty is a huge issue in India too. The Indian economy is growing fast, but the nation is still to wipe out poverty completely from its soil. Poverty has a huge impact on people’s lives, especially for children. With no income to even have a basic meal a day children are forced to work to help supplement the family income. Thousands of children in the country miss out their education to support their family. Interestingly, there has been an improvement in this phenomenon since 2000, when The Akshaya Patra Foundation, an initiative founded with the motive that ‘No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger’ came into existence.  Akshaya Patra’s mid-day meal scheme which was kicked off with just 1,500 school children, at present, covers over 1.4 million Government school students in India.

This NGO in India, through all these years, has been working hard to ensure that underserved school children get all the calories, proteins, minerals and vitamins needed to excel in studies and succeed in life. Akshaya Patra’s mid-day meal provides all the necessary nutrition needed for a healthy growth in childhood.

The organisation owes a large part of its success to its donors. The mission of The Akshaya Patra Foundation, now, is to reach out to 5 million children by the year 2020.

Today’s children are tomorrow’s citizens. Your contribution can help us build a healthy and smart society. To support out the programme, join us and give your contribution to feed more children and to remove hunger among children.

To know more how you can be part of Akshaya Patra, visit Get Involve.