A small little thought can pave way for a million dreams. Such a thought, laid the foundation for The Akshaya Patra Foundation in 2000.
“No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger”
It recognized the strong connection between food and education and started feeding meals to 1,500 children studying in Bengaluru’s Government schools. The Foundation gradually increased its service to provide mid-day meals to school children in other states too. The organisation gained national and international fame for providing unlimited food for education to children and became the world’s largest NGO-run school lunch programme.
Akshaya Patra completed 20 years of providing school meals to children from Government and Government-aided schools. During these years, it implemented the Mid-Day Meal Programme to 1.8 million children. The NGO feeds wholesome mid-day meals to school children and is spread across 52 locations in 12 States and 2 Union Territories of India. The Foundation provides food assistance when a disaster strikes the nation.
Akshaya Patra works on a private-public partnership basis for the last 20 years by working with The Government of India, State Governments, corporate partners and millions of individual donors. Daily, nutritious, hot and locally palatable meals to improve nutritional levels of children.
Akshaya Patra’s 20 Year Journey
| YEAR | TIMELINE |
|---|---|
| 2000 | Served meals to 1,500 children in Bengaluru, Karnataka. |
| 2003 | Hosted Late Shri A.P.J Abdul Kalam, Former President of India. |
| 2006 | Akshaya Patra became a case study of Harvard Business School’s MBA curriculum. |
| 2009 | Served a cumulative of 500 million meals. |
| 2010 | Entered the India Book of Records for running the world’s largest school meal programme. |
| 2011 | Gold Shield for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). |
| 2012 | Served 1 billionth cumulative meals. |
| 2013 | Hosted His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama. |
| 2014 | 1st NGO to be inducted with ICAI Hall of Fame, Mr Bill Clinton, Former President of USA visited the Jaipur Kitchen. |
| 2015 | Nepal Earthquake Relief, Chennai Flood Relief |
| 2016 | Served 2 billionth cumulative meals in presence of the Late Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Former President of India. |
| 2017 | Received a National Award for Child Welfare, Gujarat Flood Relief, Gorakhpur Flood Relief |
| 2018 | Coorg Flood Relief, Kerala Flood Relief |
| 2019 | Served 2 billionth cumulative meals in presence of Shri Narendra Modi, Honourable Prime Minister of India; Odisha Cyclone Relief, Assam Flood Relief, North Karnataka Flood Relief. Won Gandhi Peace Prize, BBC World Service Global Food Champion Award, Outlook Poshan Jury Award, Mahatma Award for Social Good. |
| 2020 | Served a cumulative of 10 crore meals as a part of COVID-19 Relief Service; received the COVID Crusaders Award 2020 by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC). |
Akshaya Patra’s Covid Relief Effort
In the year 2020, the lives of laborers and daily-wage workers were deeply affected; they lost their jobs and their only source of income. This meant that they did not have money to buy groceries like in earlier days. Joining in hands with the Government of India, Akshaya Patra began the COVID-19 Relief Service. As a part of this programme, the non-profit organization served cooked meals and distributed grocery kits to the needy people of India and their families. It served a cumulative of 11-crore meals amid the crisis.
Also, schools were closed and mid-day meal beneficiaries were deprived of probably their only source of daily nutrition, i.e. school meals. To continue working towards serving school children, Akshaya Patra began the Happiness Kits Programme. As a part of this programme, every mid-day meal beneficiary was given a Happiness Kit that supports their nutritional, hygiene and educational aspects.
To know what goes into the Happiness Bags, visit – https://tapf.org.uk/happiness-bag
Donate online and be a part of Akshaya Patra’s 20th Anniversary. Nurture and nourish children with your support by giving them food, education and a healthy future.