Driven to be a Doctor

Kalpana Malik may be just ten years old, but she already knows what she wants to be when she grows up. Her dream is to be a doctor someday. While that might seem like a common, frivolous ambition for a young child, Kalpana knows exactly why she wants to take up this noble profession.

"I would like to be a doctor because there is insufficiency of doctors to serve the patients," she says with confidence.

A standard V girl in the Vijayanagar Project Primary School in Puri, she is the youngest of four sisters. Her father is employed as a beach photographer and her mother takes care of the home.

Kalpana is a beneficiary of mid-day meals provided by The Akshaya Patra Foundation. With her characteristic exuberance she expresses her opinion about the food saying, “I love the food, and it’s always fresh and on time!"

Kalpana is whole-heartedly involved in the extra-curricular activities of her school, and especially excels in singing and dancing. She also loves to attend her classes and enjoys learning English in particular.

According to the teachers of Kalpana’s school, the Akshaya Patra mid-day meal is a predominant factor in inspiring children to enrol in school and attend classes regularly. Watching the energy and vibrancy that Kalpana exudes in her conversation and behaviour, we are thrilled to see the positive impact that the healthy meals have on her.

These beneficiaries of Akshaya Patra’s mid-day meal like Kalpana inspire us with their optimism, dreams and potential, and keep us striving to carry them through to success.

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President Pranab Mukherjee supports Akshaya Patra

 

In a thrilling development, the Honourable President of India, Pranab Mukherjee met with Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman and Chanchalapati Dasa, Vice-Chairman of The Akshaya Patra Foundation recently. In his discussions with the President, Madhu Pandit Dasa outlined the work and values of the Foundation.

The President in turn expressed his support and appreciation of the work undertaken by The Akshaya Patra Foundation. He expressed his best wishes to the organisation and hope that Akshaya Patra will succeed in its mission of eliminating classroom hunger, and enabling education throughout the country.

Madhu Pandit Dasa responded to the heartfelt support for The Akshaya Patra Foundation from the President of India saying, "We are very honoured to receive the support of The Honourable President, Sri Pranab Mukherjee. This is very crucial for us as we stride to scale-up to meet our mission of reaching five million children by 2020."

 The Akshaya Patra Foundation which started its journey in the year 2000 feeding just 1500 children across five schools, today feeds over 1.4 million children across 10,661 Government and Government aided schools, in 23 locations and 10 states of India.  With a vision that ‘no child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger,’ Akshaya Patra constantly looks to the future to scale up its operations and provide food for education to every child in need. The organisation recently opened up two large-scale, highly mechanised, centralised kitchens; one at Cuttack, and the other at Ahmedabad.

If you would like to support The Akshaya Patra Foundation in its work to eliminate classroom hunger, click to donate online.

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Providing support through adversity

There are many children who cannot dream of attending school, not just because of they are underserved in terms of poverty, but also in terms of enabling facilities. Young Bhanuchander from Telangana is just one of the thousands of children in India suffering from Polio, which makes it impossible for him to walk.

His grandmother, who he calls Ammamma has taken care of Bhanu since he was born. Despite the fact that she suffers from asthma, Ammamma is committed to pushing Bhanu’s wheel chair to the school and back every day.

However there are days when she is too ill or weak to push Bhanu’s wheel chair to school, and he has to miss school. Bhanu’s uncle works as a daily wage earner, an uncertain occupation that on some days yields no money. On days when he does not manage to earn any income the family has to sleep on an empty stomach.

Bhanu especially because of his tender young age and physical ailments requires a steady supply of nutritious food to develop healthily. At school he is a beneficiary of the Akshaya Patra mid-day meal, which has proved to be a blessing for this small family. By eating the tasty, nutritious food every day, even Bhanu’s teachers have faith that he, like many others in the school, will be able to grow healthy and overcome the challenges they face.

Ammamma expresses her relief that Bhanu can reply on the Akshaya Patra mid-day meal saying, “My grandson is happy to go to school since he gets hot food, snacks and fruits also. I can't afford any of these constantly.” Aside from providing children like Bhanu healthy food to combat malnutrition, it also brings Akshaya Patra pleasure to help ease the burden from struggling, devoted family members like Bhanu’s  Ammamma.

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Engineering a way forward

Meghashree dreams of becoming a Software Engineer when she grows up. A studious, young girl of 15 years, she studies in Standard X at the Sharada Vilas High School in Mysore.

A new Akshaya Patra kitchen opens at Cuttack!

 

Staying focused on its aim to keep expanding and reach out to 5 million children by 2020, The Akshaya Patra Foundation has launched its 23rd kitchen at Cuttack in Odisha. This centralised kitchen was inaugurated by Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister of Odisha, as well as General Surat Singh Sandhu, the Chairman of The Kusuma Foundation and Pankaj Vinayak Sharma, Country Leader of The Kusuma Foundation.

An all-round healthy meal

Consuming a balanced diet is crucial for the healthy functioning of the human body. This is especially true for young children, whose bodies require the right amounts of nutrients and energy to develop both physically and mentally, and keep up with the rigour of childhood activity. The Akshaya Patra Foundation knows how vital the right amount of nutrients are to growing children and therefore adheres to the guidelines specified by the Government of India on the mid-day meal programme.

Vitamins and minerals are needed for the proper mental and cognitive development of these young children. In a time when their bodies are vulnerable, they rely on these nutrients to develop to their best potential. The Akshaya Patra Foundation provides these vitamins and minerals through beetroot, cabbage and carrot that are featured regularly in the mid-day meal.

Growing children should be starved of neither food nor energy. That’s why Akshaya Patra makes sure the children have both by providing them with sufficient carbohydrates, which help store energy in the body, through an adequate supply of rice in South India and Roti in North India to suit the local palate.

Proteins help in the physical development of the body, which makes them a crucial component in the diet of growing children. Akshaya Patra includes proteins in the mid-day meal through ingredients like spinach, potato, lentils and beans, which are frequently used in the menu.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation works to provide food for education, and combat the issue of classroom hunger in India. Through the mid-day meal, the beneficiaries of the programme have shown improved concentration, retention and energy, better socialization skills and a much higher drive to enroll in school. By ensuring that each meal is tasty, healthy and filling, The Akshaya Patra Foundation everyday comes closer to fulfilling its vision that no child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger.

Donation process suited to your needs

Making a donation to The Akshaya Patra Foundation for the cause of food for education is a very simple process. All you need to know is how much you would like to donate, whether you are donating in cash or kind, and the reason for your donation.