By Krista McCarthy | Marketing Manager
The Earthquake Relief Centralised Kitchen Project, a joint initiative of the Akshaya Patra Foundation, Jamsetji Tata Trust and Sipradian Sahayata Sanstha prepared and served its first meals on Saturday, June 19, 2015. The Akshaya Patra Foundation builds and operates award winning centralized kitchens in India from which it delivers hot, nutritious meals to 1.4 million school children across India daily. As such, Akshaya Patra is uniquely qualified to set up an emergency field kitchen in less than one week’s time to aid the survivors of the two devastating earthquakes in Nepal. Shortly after these devastating earthqualkes it was found that tens of thousands of people were homeless and without access to clean water and food.
Thirty-three members of Akshaya Patra’s Team set up the kitchen in five days—a record for the organization. The kitchen is housed in a pre-fabricated structure. The kitchen contains three 600-liter cooking cauldrons to prepare rice, a 1,200-liter cauldron to prepare dal, and vegetable cutting machines. The kitchen follows stringent rules to ensure quality control and that food prepared is nutritious and hygienic.
The kitchen began its operations on Saturday, the 19th, by serving 1,100 people living in camps in Bode, where survivors of the worst affected area of Sindhupal Chowk have been accommodated. The kitchen, which can prepare 10,000 meals an hour up to 100,000 people a day, will also serve survivors in Bhelukhel, Maheswari, Jella, Garun Kund, Kamal Binayak, Thulo Bayasee, Bayasee, Bode, Thali, Gokarneswar and Bhugmati.
Speaking to Mr. Madan, Camp Coordinator at Bode, a homeless camp resident commented, “Despite all the things that have happened we will come up from this. The relief kitchen initiative has also given us the strength to look forward.”
Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, expressed his gratitude saying, “I wholeheartedly thank the Government of Nepal, Jamsetji Tata Trust and Sipradian Sahayata Sanstha for their unflinching support in helping us set up this earthquake relief kitchen facility in the affected area. With their continued involvement, we are confident that we can provide wholesome, nutritious food to those affected in the region and offer comfort during this time.”
About Akshaya Patra:
Akshaya Patra is the world’s largest NGO-run school meal program serving over 1.4 million children in 10,770 government schools in 10 states in India from 24 kitchens. All of Akshaya Patra’s kitchens meet the highest standards of safety and efficiency, and ten of Akshaya Patra’s kitchens have already been certified as FSMS ISO 22000:2005 compliant, which means they meet the standards of the International Food Safety Management System (FSMS).
Akshaya Patra USA supports the mission of the organization by raising funds and awareness for Akshaya Patra amongst supporters in the United States.
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By Leah George | Akshaya Patra staffer
By Krista McCarthy | Manager of Donor Relations
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