GlobalGiving.org: Feed 50,000 school children a daily meal in India

2011 Recap and Happy Holidays!

Kerry Markey — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:14:08 GMT

Akshaya Patra Children

As 2011 draws to a close, we'd like to thank you because YOU have made a tremendous impact on the lives of the most vulnerable children in India. We are grateful for the collaboration and the confidence you have placed in us that allows us to continue to deliver healthy nutritious meals and provide access to education to over 1.3 million children DAILY.

During this past year we have expanded our reach to make a real impact in the fight against hunger to another 160,000 children giving them HOPE: Health, Opportunities, Progress and Education. We opened a new kitchen facility in Nathdwara, Rajasthan with a capacity to serve 50,000 children daily. We are constantly innovating to improve the efficiency of operations. To save on fuel costs and to manage with less number of distribution vehicles, we developed and piloted a route simulation software this year that has optimization opportunity of up to 15%. We have installed GPS devices in vehicles to allow us to track vehicles in real time and help us with routing, rerouting and load balancing. We are using handheld machines to electronically capture data of attendance, indent of food for the next day and feedback from all schools. We rolled out comprehensive Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in April 2011 to standardize processes across units. These initiatives for process optimization will help us reach our next milestone of feeding 5 million children by 2020.

The road to freedom from hunger is long. But like all epic journeys, it has to begin with steps taken in the right direction. Our work is still work in progress. We face extraordinary challenges but we also have an extraordinary opportunity to shape the future of these children. During the Holiday Season more than ever, our thoughts turn gratefully to each one of you who make our work possible. We look forward to our work together in 2012 and can't wait to share our ideas and our successes with you.

We thank you and wish you and your family peace, love and happiness this holiday season and a joyous 2012.

Warm Regards,

The Akshaya Patra Team

Akshaya Patra children

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Nathdwara Kitchen Complete!!

Kerry Markey — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:56:21 GMT

Rear view of kitchen

Greetings from Akshaya Patra!

As the weather begins to turn cold here in Boston our hearts have been warmed by the outpouring of support over the last several months for the construction of our new kitchen in Nathdwara. I am overjoyed to share the good news that the kitchen was fully funded and is now complete! It will be inaugurated on Childrens Day in India, November 14th. The Nathdwara kitchen has the capacity to feed 50,000 children DAILY; giving them an incentive to come to school, stay in school, and provide them with the nutrients they need to focus on learning. We could not have accomplished this project without each one of you and we are incredibly grateful for your support.

Although providing fresh nutritious meals to an additional 50,000 school children is a tremendous step forward, we are still a far way off from reaching our goal of feeding 5 million children by 2020. We will continue to count on the support of each of you and hope that you will continue to share the work of Akshaya Patra with your friends and family.

Thank you for all that you do.

The Akshaya Patra Team

Front view of kitchen

Rice cleaning machine

Rice and daal station 1

Rice and daal station 2

Nathdwara school children

Links:

PBS NewsHour feature story on Akshaya Patra

Construction in Nathdwara Underway!

Kerry Markey — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:31:40 GMT

Kitchen Constuction at Nathdwara, Rajasthan

Akshaya Patra has had a very successful and busy second quarter of 2011!

The kitchen in Nathdwara is well underway thanks to all of your donations. This kitchen, once completed, will have the capacity to feed 50,000 children. However, Akshaya Patra is still in dire need of funding to complete the project.

On May 14, 2011, Mrs. Indra K. Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo was was the keynote speaker at Akshaya Patras annual Food for Education benefit in Boston, MA. Mrs. Nooyi discussed her personal history of growing up in Chennai, India with food rations. Mrs. Nooyi stated “The message of Akshaya Patra is deeply is clear. We can meet the world’s food needs as long as we work together to create change.” In closing remarks Mrs. Nooyi stated “A child’s hunger is entirely preventable, the simple and powerful mission of Akshaya Patra is not just filling empty bellies, but changing the trajectory of countless lives, and this gives us all a renewed sense of what is possible and working together we can unleash the possibility of a better future for every child.”

Last, Akshaya Patra was granted the "Best Innovation" award at the 2011 TiEcon conference, the worlds largest conference for entrepreneurs.

Without the support of donors like you we could not continue to feed over 1.2 million children DAILY. On behalf of the children that we serve, I thank you for your commitment to our vision: No child shall be deprived of education because of hunger. With your continued support we hope to reach our goal of feeding 5 million children by 2020

Kitchen Construction at Nathdwara, Rajasthan

2011 Quarter One kick-started with a bang!

Suma Adapala — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:58:24 GMT

Chidlren Enjoying an Akshaya Patra Meal

Akshaya Patra has had a fabulous start of 2011 and we hope to achieve our mission to reach 5 Million children by the year 2020 with continued support from each one of you.

Some of the highlights of Akshaya Patra in Q1 2011:

Akshaya Patra’s Green Meals Initiatives :

Akshaya Patra’s environmental goal is to economically, hygienically, and efficiently prepare and deliver school lunches. Annually, Akshaya Patra serves over 305 million individual meals to school children. If these meals were prepared using inefficient methods (including burning of wood or charcoal), there would be a high level of environmental impact. However, Akshaya Patra has addressed this problem by preparing meals in an environmentally-friendly manner, greatly reducing the use of fuel for cooking and drastically decreasing food waste.

Some eco-friendly initiatives being piloted at some of the Akshaya Patra kitchens:

Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) – In order to address concerns of hygiene everything that is procured, is thoroughly washed. This includes rice, vegetables and lentils. The water used for washing contains nutrients and is used for bio-culture. Waste water is also used for washing vehicles.

Rainwater Harvesting – Hubli in the state of Karnataka receives substantial amount of rainfall and in a bid to use this, Akshaya Patra has adopted rainwater harvesting. The rain water is routed into a pond. The water retained in the pond continuously recharges the bore wells, and reduces dependency on corporation water.

Bio-Gas Plant – The kitchens generate by-products and organic waste such as vegetable peelings etc in large quantities on a daily basis. Proper disposal of the waste poses challenges. The bio gas plant ensures that by-products can be converted into fuel for cooking purposes.

Vermi-composting – By-products and organic wastes are currently addressed through vermi-composting and will be fully replaced by the bio-gas plant.

Thermite Briquette Boiler – As a measure to reduce air pollution, a briquette boiler has been installed. Briquettes are sustainable alternates to conventional fuels and are made of agri-waste, consisting of compressed groundnut shells and grain husks. They also reduce carbon emission and constitute a big step towards achieving a green system.

"Time For Kids" did a fabulous article about Akshaya Patra http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/magazine/ns/0,28413,110121,00.html

Won the ICAI Gold shield award for financial transparency for a second consecutive year http://foodforeducation.org/Gold-Shield-Award.pdf

The first "Food For Education" Benefit event funds were raised successfully in the Bay Area with Deepak Chopra as the key note speaker. Deepak Chopra commented that “Akshaya Patra is Love in Action”

We are counting on your generous support. This will be the best return on your investment, so please consider making Akshaya Patra the philanthropy of your choice. Children are the ultimate beneficiaries.

A school in Hubli - Children enjoying a a hot meal

Hot nutritious meals being served

Roti Machine crancking out 40,000 Rotis

Links:

Rewind 2010 - Akshaya Patra's Accomplishments

Suma Adapala — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:24:13 GMT

As we approach the end of 2010, I want to thank all our supporters who share our vision - "NO CHILD SHALL BE DEPRIVED OF EDUCATION BECAUSE OF HUNGER."

I also want to share some of the fabulous highlights of 2010 with you and invite you to continue to make Akshaya Patra your philanthropic priority.

It is with a great deal of pride that I share with you some of Akshaya Patra's notable accomplishments on its 10^th anniversary year:

Scaled from feeding 1 million children to nearly 1.3 million children daily
Kitchens became operational in Guwahati, Assam and Baroda, Gujarat
Moved from using diesel operated steam boilers to boilers that use bio-degradable briquettes
Enhancement of Roti making machine from making 10,000 to 40,000 Rotis per hour along with an automated oil sprinkler
Using more economical and nimble delivery vehicles that can traverse narrow roads
A new USA Advisory Board consisting of Deepak Chopra, Narayana Murthy, Nitin Nohria, and Fareed Zakaria was formed .
"Food For Education" Benefit events were organized and funds were raised successfully at Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Michigan and launched inaugural events in Nashua and New York City
President Madhu Sridhar was invited to speak about Akshaya Patra’s partnership with PATH at the Tech Awards annual Awards ceremony
Akshaya Patra’s social media presence has been further strengthened by 140,000+ followers on Twitter, close to 5,000 Facebook fans and JUMO has featured Akshaya Patra on its home page
Time World did a fabulous article about Akshaya Patra - http://bit.ly/awObIw
Celebrity site visits, endorsements and introductions to the Akshaya Patra program: cricketer Zaheer Khan; leading racer Sudharshana Rao Karwal; bollywood actress Shabana Azmi etc.
Site visits to the Akshaya Patra kitchens by TiE, MIT Alumini, Global Child Nutrition Foundation etc.
Won the ICAI Gold shield award, Indian Express Innovation Award, Best Innovative Project for Innovations in Services to the Urban Poor, LeapVault Change Leadership Awards, SAFA certificate award,
Major corporate partners – Adobe, Applied Materials, Andhra Bank, AUMA, British Biologicals, Canyon Creek Foundation, Caterpillar, CISCO, Deshpande Foundation, EMC, Horne Foundation, Kraft, Math Works, Monsanto Foundation, Samhoud Foundation, State Bank of India, Xilinx, Western Union etc.

The Akshaya Patra team wishes you and your family a Holiday season filled with hope, optimism and joy!

Links:

"Inexhaustible Pot" - Largest Midday School meal Program

School Meal Production Site Visit

Bill Brower — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:07:50 GMT

Vats of rice

Bill Brower is a Field Program Officer with GlobalGiving who visited our partners’ projects throughout South and Southeast Asia. On June 17th he visited the Akshaya Patra school lunch production facility in Bangalore. His “Postcard” from the visit:

If you’ve never seen a kitchen set up to make 150,000 lunches each day it’s quite the sight. I have a B.S. in chemical engineering and I felt oddly at home in Akshaya Patra’s operation in Bangalore. Vats of rice. Heating vessels filled with dal. Piping, pumps and valves. Despite the almost disturbing scale, the food being packed into stainless steel containers for transport by truck to hundreds of schools in the area looked appetizing—certainly better than the thawed, highly-processed food I remember from growing up. And the facility looked hygienic and well run.

In 2004 the government in India started requiring schools to provide lunch to students. Some schools set up their own kitchens, but many decided to outsource to organizations like Akshaya Patra. The environmentalist in me is torn between the efficiencies of scale and the advantages of local, distributed, self-sufficient systems. But Akshaya Patra is providing these lunches, which has been shown in studies to increase attendance, decrease the dropout rate and increase concentration.

I was told that they are responsive to students’ tastes. Students wanted a less predictable offering and Akshaya Patra started to mix it up more. They wanted smaller vegetable pieces and Akshaya Patra got new equipment that could chop more finely. They began adding a protein source to one of their dishes recently but students didn’t like the smell so they stopped.

Thank you for supporting this project. Your donation is helping more kids have a more effective school day.

Processing dal

Delivery truck

Links:

Processing rice

An Update

Moushumi Banerjee — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 07:05:34 GMT

Each school day, more than a million children in 6,500 schools across seven Indian states eagerly await the vehicle that brings their midday meal. For many of them, the food provided by the Bangalore-based Akshaya Patra Foundation is their first, and perhaps only, meal of the day. The promise of an ample hot lunch brings them to school regularly. The foundation's hope is that the nutrition helps them think clearly once they are there.

"Our program is not just about providing food," says Madhu Pandit Das, chairman of the Akshaya Patra Foundation. "It is about providing opportunities for children from economically challenged backgrounds to get a good education and thereby realize their true potential." Akshaya Patra is the world's largest non-governmental organization (NGO) school meal program, according to the Limca Book of Records.

An estimated 45 million children do not attend school in India because they have to fend for themselves and their families. They typically end up with menial jobs. Without education, they remain in poverty. Many underprivileged children who do attend school remain impoverished because hunger and malnutrition prevent them from learning well. "We want to break this vicious cycle," says the foundation's vice chairman, Chanchalapati Das. "Our vision is that no child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger."

Having crossed the one million milestone last year, Akshaya Patra is working toward its next goal: to reach five million underprivileged children by 2020. But Madhu Pandit also envisions a larger social role. "We want to develop Akshaya Patra as a platform that other NGOs and social entrepreneurs can adopt and replicate." He and Chanchalapati, engineers by education, are also full-time missionaries at the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a Krishna temple in Bangalore.

In a congratulatory letter in November 2008, U.S. President Barack Obama noted that in just a few years, Akshaya Patra had become the single largest feeding program in the world. "Your example of using advanced technologies in central kitchens ... is an imaginative approach that has the potential to serve as a model for other countries," he wrote.

Compared with other NGOs that struggle to survive, how has Akshaya Patra managed to reach so many? According to S. Nayana Tara, professor of public systems at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, the foundation's "management and operating model, the quality and delivery of services, and the commitment of the team are all key differentiators." To reach its next goal of reaching five million children "and to become a role model, it needs to continue to build on all these fronts. It has to be a very well-orchestrated program." Nayana Tara, who has conducted impact studies on the program, adds that in moving ahead, Akshaya Patra needs to pay special attention to capacity-building at all levels by bringing in professionals with different strengths. And it needs to put robust measures of service quality in place.

Says Devi Shetty, a cardiac surgeon who is founder of the Bangalore-based heart hospital Narayana Hrudayalaya: "[Akshaya Patra's] biggest strength is that they are very conscious of every penny that is spent and they spend it extremely judiciously. They are fulfilling a great social need." Shetty, whose hospital has made quality cardiac care widely affordable, points out that Akshaya Patra is run like a business, even though there is no profit motive. Shetty is a member of Akshaya Patra's board of advisers. Akshaya Patra -- which in Sanskrit means the "inexhaustible vessel" -- began in 2000 as a small initiative of ISKCON-Bangalore. The temple cooks meals -- called prasadam -- for thousands of devotees on a daily basis. Mohandas Pai, director at software giant Infosys Technologies, suggested to Madhu Pandit, chairman of ISKCON, that the temple take on the responsibility of feeding underprivileged children in nearby schools. Pai, who later became a program trustee, offered to bear part of the cost personally. Madhu Pandit agreed and the temple started cooking and distributing food to 1,500 students across five schools in the city. Word of mouth soon led to requests pouring in from other schools.

A year later, to avoid religious overtones, Akshaya Patra registered as an independent and secular charitable trust. In 2003, the government of Karnataka started its own midday meal in line with a Supreme Court decree that such programs be implemented by all state governments. The Karnataka government invited NGOs to become implementing partners and Akshaya Patra responded. It now partners with seven state governments. Our Reach : Our Reach State of Karnataka Location Number of Children Number of Schools Bangalore 2,12,261 981 Mysore 13,250 55 Mangalore 17,000 99 Hubli/Dharwar 1,81,456 790 Bellary 1,18,429 496

State of Andrapradesh Location Number of Children Number of Schools Visakapatnam 5,548 7 Medak Dist., Hyderabad 30,000 127

State of Rajasthan Location Number of Children Number of Schools Jaipur * 1,50,000 1426 * This includes the provision of mid-day meals to children in Anganwadi centers Nathdwara 15,408 164 Baran Dist * 20,200 120 * This includes the provision of mid-day meals to Nursing Mothers & Pregnant women in Baran district State of Uttar Pradesh Location Number of Children Number of Schools Vrindavan & Mathura Dist 1,55,456 1375 State of Orissa Location Number of Children Number of Schools Puri 50,550 340 Nayagarh Dist 15,562 180 State of Gujarat Location Number of Children Number of Schools Ahmedabad/Gandhinagar 1,30,000 524 Baroda 40,000 110 State of Chhattisgarh Location Number of Children Number of Schools Bhilai 31,086 133 State of Assam Location Number of Children Number of Schools Guwahati 12,000 183

Funding Requirements While most other NGOs fit their infrastructure and meal costs within the state government funding, Akshaya Patra's state government funding accounts for about half of meal costs. Akshaya Patra raises the rest from institutions such as ISKCON, its trustees, corporations and individual donors. The cost difference, Madhu Pandit says, is because of the superior quality and unlimited quantity of the Akshaya Patra meal. The meal typically includes rice or chapattis (wheat pancakes), sambar (a vegetable- and lentil-based gravy dish) or dal (a lentil-based dish) and curd, and contains 550 calories. Nayana Tara says that "what the government provides by way of a midday meal is at best a snack of sorts. Akshaya Patra, on the other hand, gives a complete, wholesome and unlimited meal." Third-party studies have documented the positive impact of Akshaya Patra meals by way of increased enrollment, better student health and improved academic performance. "In the last financial year [2008-2009], the average cost of an Akshaya Patra meal was Rs. 4.68 (US$0.10), of which the government funded around Rs. 2.64. This means that to feed one million children, we needed donations of around Rs 20 lakh (US$43,000) per school day. Since then, the costs have gone up further," Chanchalapati says. Akshaya Patra has also spent more than Rs. 60 crore (US$12.9 million) in setting up its kitchens. The kitchens are core to the program's operations, and to its success. Unlike in most other midday meal programs, where the cooking takes place at the school or in small set-ups, Akshaya Patra's kitchens are highly automated and centralized to allow for scale. This minimizes manual handling and ensures high standards of hygiene. Akshaya Patra has 14 such kitchens, most of which are designed to prepare 50,000 or 100,000 meals per day. Two of its biggest -- in Hubli and Bellary (both in Karnataka) -- can cook 250,000 meals per day. Each Akshaya Patra kitchen is headed by two full-time ISKCON missionaries and typically has 150 to 300 employees. The kitchens open at 2:30 a.m. and cooking starts at 3:00 a.m. The first vehicle carrying food rolls out at 5:30 a.m. It typically takes about five hours to cook 100,000 Akshaya Patra meals. "Our centralized kitchen model leverages technology and innovations to maximize operational and cost efficiencies," says program director Chitranga Chaitanya Das, who is also a full-time missionary at ISKCON and an engineer. For instance, Akshaya Patra uses customized industrial steam generators and specifically designed vegetable cutting machines that can process hundreds of kilograms of vegetables per hour. It has imported a Blagdon Pump (typically used in chocolate processing for pumping liquid chocolate) from the United Kingdom and is using it to pump out excess water while cooking rice. In locations where, in keeping with local preferences, the meals include chapattis, Akshaya Patra uses customized machines that can prepare up to 40,000 per hour. One of Akshaya Patra's most striking innovations is its three-tier kitchens based on gravity flow. In these kitchens, the cleaned rice, which is kept in a silo on the ground floor, is first lifted into a smaller silo on the third floor via bucket elevators. The rice is then dropped to the second floor through a computer-controlled flow valve. The washing of the rice and lentils and the cutting of vegetables is done on the second floor. These are then dropped through a number of stainless steel chutes to vessels on the first floor where the cooking is done. The cooked food is similarly dropped to the ground floor, where it is packed into airtight stainless steel containers and loaded into custom-designed grid vehicles.