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Initially called the Joy of Giving Week, Daan Utsav is India’s ‘Festival of Giving’ that was launched in 2009. It is celebrated every year commencing on 2nd October and concluding on 8th October. Thousands of people have come, time and again, to give back to the society and the community.

“The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.”
Mahatma Gandhi

People who want to involve themselves in philanthropic acts do every little thing possible from their end. They come up with many creative ways to lend a helping hand to support the cause closest to their heart.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought millions of people together to help those in need.
690 million people around the globe are affected by hunger. By the end of 2020, the COVID-19 crisis could further drive over 130 million more into chronic hunger.
NGO’s all over the world and in India have come forward to help people affected by the pandemic.

Akshaya Patra’s COVID-19 Food Relief Efforts
The Akshaya Patra Foundation began its COVID-19 Relief Service on 25th March 2020 and has served over 8.2-crore meals in the last six months. This NGO is currently serving freshly cooked meals and distributing grocery kits and happiness kits across India.

• Cooked meals
Freshly cooked, nutritious meals are provided to the poor and marginalised sections of the society. So far, a total of 4,92,78,886 meals have been served to daily-wage workers, labourers, needy people at old-age homes and night shelters. Nutritious meals upkeeps health and immunity of the needy.

• Grocery Kits
The pandemic resulted in economic slowdown and loss of jobs, leaving millions helpless. Neither they had any source of income nor enough savings to sustain themselves and their families.The distribution of grocery kits by the NGO have supported 8,27,545 families thus far.

• Happiness Kits
The Happiness Kits Programme was initiated to support the food and education of mid-day meal beneficiaries. Each happiness kit supports nutrition, immunity, hygiene and education of children. So far, a total of 40,551 mid-day meal beneficiaries have been benefitted.

Ways to contribute in this Joy of Giving Week 2020
Your contribution to Akshaya Patra will give hope to millions of people in this Daan Utsav 2020. You can support our cause and experience joy by:
• Donating online
• Being vocal on social media
• Conducting fundraising campaigns

This Daan Utsav, support people in need because “Happiness is not a goal. It is a by-product of a life well-lived.” Eleanor Roosevelt.

It is difficult times for most of us. We are wired in such a way that, in spite of this tough situation, there is a strong desire to help the people in need.

“The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.” – Leo Tolstoy

More often than not, the question ‘How do I support them?’ lurks on our minds and we begin looking for answers. The most common answer lies in making donations to NGOs that support your cause. There are over 3 million NGOs in India that work towards different causes.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an NGO in India that works towards its core cause of feeding unlimited food for education to school children. It serves mid-day meals to Government and Government-aided school children in 52 locations spread across 12 States and 2 Union Territories of India.

Akshaya Patra’s COVID-19 Relief Service
Apart from working towards its core cause, Akshaya Patra extends its feeding services to people who are affected during crisis hours. To help the needy people during the pandemic, the NGO started its COVID-19 Feeding Relief Service. By working in coordination with the State Governments, District Authorities and with the help of individual donors and corporate partners, Akshaya Patra has:
• Served over 4-crore freshly cooked meals to the needy
• Supported more than 8 lakhs marginalised families with essential grocery kits
• Begun its initiative to support nutrition and education of mid-day meal beneficiaries by providing Happiness Kits

Make online donations to support Akshaya Patra
You can be a part of Akshaya Patra by supporting its relief initiatives by donating online or conducting fundraising campaigns:

Create a Birthday Fundraising Campaign
If you have a birthday coming up, make it special by celebrating it in a unique way. You can create a birthday fundraiser and feed the needy people with the amount you receive as support from your family, friends and relatives.

Create a COVID-19 Relief Fundraising Campaign
To maximize your support for the needy, you can create a COVID-19 fundraiser. With these funds you will be able to provide cooked meals, grocery kits and Happiness kits to the needy and mid-day meals beneficiaries respectively.

CSR partnership
Many opportunities are available for companies who have partnered with Akshaya Patra. You can donate as a part of your CSR activity to help the needy people get access to wholesome meals every day.

How does your donation help?
Shivanand Malali from Hubballi, Karnataka was stranded at a railway station for two days. Since he wasn’t able to book a ticket due to lack of money, he decided to walk back home. Teary-eyed, he says, “After three days, I found shelter in BCM Hostel, I’m grateful for all the help that I received at the right time. After I got to know that it was Akshaya Patra that was feeding meals to all of us at the Hostel, I was relieved. I knew that I’ll not only get food, but it will be fresh and hygienic too.”
There are millions like Shivanand Malali stranded without jobs, shelter or food. Your donation can make a world of difference to them when they least expect it.

Join Akshaya Patra to help the needy in India. Support Now!

If you feel that you have not been able to do your best generous donation all this month, you still have an extra day to show how much you care for creating a better future. Donate to Akshaya Patra, it feeds 1.8 million children every single day across 51 locations in India. Take this leap to donate towards their future on this extra day! Happy LEAP YEAR indeed!

The word EXTRA stirs a unique sense of relief in all of us. Be it an extra holiday, an extra discount tagged along a product or an extra day of Sale in stores and supermarkets. And adding on to the list of EXTRAS, there is uniqueness to this, it’s a LEAP year 2020. Meaning, an extra day to do all the things that you wished you should have done during the other days of the month. Guess what? It is never too late since you have an extra day – so go wash your car, spend time with your family, go out on a date with your parents, give a bonus amount to your domestic help or donate towards an NGO in India that you had once thought of, not long ago.

You really have an extra day this year. Why not utilize it for making a great impact on children? The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a non-profit organization that implements the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in India. With the help of people who donate online, today, it feeds 1.8 million children studying in 16,856 Government and Government-aided schools. It serves healthy and nutritious mid-day meals from 51 centralised and de-centralised kitchens located in 12 States and 2 Union Territories of India, namely – Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Odisha, Karnataka, Gujarat, Delhi, Daman & DNH, Chhattisgarh, Assam and Andhra Pradesh.

The state-of-the-art kitchens serve meals that are locally palatable by the school children. The ingredients picked for the menu help children to stay full for a longer time so that they can concentrate and focus better during their school hours. Some children hail from challenging backgrounds which is why mid-day meals prove to be a boon for them.

How is Akshaya Patra’s meals beneficial?

Many parents send their children to school with the assurance that they will get the right amount of nutrition in their school along with gaining education. Since affording single square meal is a challenging task, they rely on school meals to ensure their children’s nutritional requirements. Mid-day meals are planned and prepared keeping in mind the dietary requirements of developing children.

Quality and hygiene are a priority and are followed strictly right from purchasing raw materials till the delivery of meals. Raw materials are stored in designated store rooms and FIFO and FEFO methods are employed, all cutting and cooking equipment along with vessels are sterilized before and after use, and the employees in the kitchen wear protective gears at all times. The Mid-Day Meal Programme has been a success to increase retention rates in various schools. Make this year’s extra day fruitful. Donate school meals and get income tax exemption with every donation under section 80G of the Indian Income Tax Act.

Your LEAP of kindness = YEAR full of wholesome meals for children.

Digitisation has changed many aspects of our lives including the way we conduct financial transactions. Considering the security and ease of digital transaction, NGOs across the globe including Akshaya Patra encourage donors to contribute funds through online donation modes.

Digitisation has simplified many aspects of our lives to a great extent. Right from conversing with family and friends, shopping, booking tickets, sending gifts to carrying out financial transactions, everything can be done from palm tops. Leveraging on this ‘ease of access’ aspect of the technological advancement, NGOs across the globe including The Akshaya Patra Foundation encourages donors to use online donation modes to contribute funds.

Akshaya Patra has been providing nutritious school meals to children in India for the past 18 years. It is one of the oldest mid-day meal NGO in India and is registered under:
• The Indian Trusts Act 1882 as a non-profit organisation.
• Section 12A (a) of the Income Tax Act 1961 and Section 6 (1) (a) of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2010.

Currently, the NGO is nourishing 1,762,133 children studying in 15,024 schools across 42 locations of 12 states. Aside from its core cause of implementing the Mid-Day Meal Programme, the FoNon Profit Organizationundation has also initiated child-centric programmes for holistic development of its beneficiaries, such as:
• Anganwadi Feeding Programme
• Giving Every Dream a Chance – a talent development programme for beneficiaries
• Scholarship Programme, and
• School and Student Transformation Programme

The Foundation encourages and welcomes support in the form of volunteering, knowledge partnership, CSR partnership, and sponsorships and donations. Focussing on donations, Akshaya Patra accepts both offline and online contributions and your donations will be eligible for tax exemption under Section 80G. Upon completion of a successful transaction, Akshaya Patra will issue a donation receipt and a tax exemption certificate. Offline donations can be made through cheques and demand drafts. However, Akshaya Patra encourages donors to donate via online donation modes.

Your online donation to Akshaya Patra will:
• Bridge the gap between children and school instantly;
• Provide the much-needed nutritious school meals to children promptly;
• Contribute in creating a strong foundation of healthy and educated citizens at the click of a button; and
• Avail tax deductions on your donated amount under Section 80G of Income Tax Act.

With your support, Akshaya Patra can reach the mission of feeding 5 million children by 2025. Let’s together nourish and nurture the future flagbearers of India. Donate and save tax now!

It is no doubt that the magic of photographs is timeless! And to explore the world of photography with children as the focus, The Akshaya Patra Foundation had initiated the ‘Click a Smile’, an annual online photography competition in 2013. With the objective to spread smiles and hopes, Akshaya Patra has pinned one main criterion for this competition i.e. only happy pictures of a child or children will be accepted and exhibited in the contest. These photographs can be from anywhere in the world and in any setting – home, school, playground, or the neighbourhood.

The ‘Click a Smile’ photo contest is open for all regardless of age and nationality, and also encourages amateurs and professional photographers to participate in it. Since the beginning this contest has received an overwhelming response from across the world with more than 1,500 entries from across 70 countries, each year. Below are some of the criteria for Click a Smile – 2018:

• The photography contest is open from 20 November 2018 to 30 December 2018. All entries must be submitted within this time period;
• Each participant is allowed to submit a maximum of three photographs;
• Only digital (JPEG format) photographs within the resolution range of 800 pixels to 4MB will qualify for the contest;
• There is no registration fee for participating in the contest;
• The shortlisted entries will be judged by a panel of professionals from the photography industry; and
• The winners of the photo contest will receive trophies, certificates, and gift vouchers.

Not just prizes, all the winning entries will be published in Akshaya Patra’s official page for the ‘Click a Smile’ contest!

Well, it’s time to capture the joy of children and spread smiles all around you. It is time to capture that one moment which can brighten up your day even after many years from now. It is time to re-experience innocence, to jump on a puddle of water and to remember the good old friends. It is time to relive your childhood. And, as they say, ‘more the merrier’, so as you participate, invite your friends to join in too.

To register and know more about this photography contest, click here.

For detailed terms and conditions, please click here.

Fellowship programme is a short or long-term engagement that can last from few months to few years where an individual referred to as a ‘fellow’ gets the opportunity to focus on their professional development. This programme is often sponsored by a specific organisation that is looking at expanding leadership in their related field.

Akshaya Patra Fellowship Programme

The Akshaya Patra Foundation recently introduced its Fellowship Programme in India. With this programme, the Foundation aims to provide a platform for young leaders and future social entrepreneurs to hone their skills in the social sector and thereby benefit millions of children. This is the Foundation’s first fellowship programme.

How will you benefit from the Fellowship Programme?

First, this fellowship programme will give you an opportunity to be a part of the top NGO in India. Second, you will be a fellow of the first batch of the Akshaya Patra’s Fellowship Programme. Third, it is a paid fellowship programme encompassing a host of training and activities for an all-inclusive development of the fellow. Here is an overview of what you will receive as a fellow of this programme:

• Training on learning and development, awareness on health, nutrition, and WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene), and soft skills development;
• A platform to experience leadership skills such as people-management, public-speaking, conflict resolution, relationship building, time management, problem solving and more;
• An opportunity to be a part of the leading team of a project, and upon successful completion, you will get a chance to present your project to the top management of the Foundation;
• An exceptional leadership journey constructively impacting your learning curve;
• On successful completion of the fellowship programme, you will receive a Fellowship Certificate;
• Last but not least, you will get the noble opportunity to impact the lives of millions of children.

How will Akshaya Patra benefit?

Over the past 17 years of being a mid-day meal NGO, Akshaya Patra has been striving to extend the benefits of mid-day meals to maximum number of children across the country. For this, it has undertaken various initiatives and has also received support and goodwill of government and donors. With this fellowship programme, Akshaya Patra aims at grooming and guiding future leaders who will enable expansion of the mid-day meal programme resulting in a nourished and educated India. This fellowship programme will help the Foundation tread many steps towards providing unlimited food for education to achieve its vision of ‘No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger.’

Apply Now

A noble opportunity is knocking at your door. It will open up avenues to improve many young lives thereby enriching your humanitarian trait and uplifting the society manifold. Be among the first graduates of the first batch of the Akshaya Patra Fellowship Programme. Apply for fellowship now!

Poonam Sharma interned with Akshaya Patra for 14 weeks as part of her MBA course. Here she shares her experience with The Foundation.

Summing up my months of experience into few paragraphs was a difficult task for me… Even more challenging is thinking about ending my internship with Akshaya Patra… With numerous experiences here at Akshaya Patra, it took me hours of brainstorming to select a few memorable ones over the others to give them shape through words…

Living a dream in reality is not meant for everyone, but for me it was happening for the past 14 weeks. Akshaya Patra was not just a work place for me; it was an emotion, a dream that turned into reality. Ever since I did my first social work, the feeling I experienced, always created an urge in me to work for an NGO, and the same came true, by joining this organization.

Daily Grooves: Past few days were a completely different experience for me, not only professionally but also on personal front. The 2-day induction gave us a complete insight about how the organization runs. Apart from this, the people I met, interacted or worked with, everyone had something new in store for me. Before coming here, I had a vague idea about doing something in marketing and working here made my career directions clearer. But more than getting a better direction, I learnt a lot. Working under my mentor was a great gaining experience, from the very basics of digital marketing to the major analytics parts, she made it very easy for me to grab and understand each concept.

A Big Exposure: Apart from this on-desk office work, Akshaya Patra also gave me an opportunity to work off-desk, by volunteering for their event “Giving Every Dream A Chance”. It is a programme which flourishes the dream of the beneficiary school children of Akshaya Patra, and gives their dream a platform, a mentor and a direction. The same event also gave me a chance to interact with beneficiary children, know their dreams, coordinate the event, and meet and interact with new people. For the same, I would like to thank the Programme Management Team comprising of Vishwas BV, Arun and Nilakshi Kar for having given me this opportunity.

A Worth Visit: It’s always great when you get to know someone personally, and it’s even greater when the other person’s story touches your life. Same happened during my visit to one of the beneficiary school of Akshaya Patra. Talking to students about their lives, covering their stories, knowing them personally, impacted me a lot, as few stories were really joyful and few really went through strenuous roads to make their dreams hard earned. These stories are not only just felt by the children, even the school teachers had a lot to share about their proud students, about the noble work of Akshaya Patra, and how they and children loved what Akshaya Patra does.

Work at Ease: Working in Akshaya Patra didn’t feel like working in an office. The lovely and joyous people always gave the place a work from home feel. The most special gesture of all the men at Akshaya Patra was giving every woman a flower with utmost respect on Women’s Day, making us feel special. From Satish Anna (Housekeeping Staff) in office to even Makarand Sir (Learning & Development Head), everyone around is so welcoming that I never felt like I have been working away from my comfort zone. The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been awarded “The great place to work” two years in a row, and it totally deserves it for the way it has been to me, personally.

My Gratitude: The words poured out are never enough, for the way you actually feel about something so close to your heart. As I leave, I would like to thank numerous unthankable people around me, for having given me this chance, and many more, who stood by me while I was living it. This has been an extremely great learning experience.

For those who are still reading my story till here, I would like to thank them too, and would request to support Akshaya Patra in their vision of “No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger”. And for those who are looking forward to working with Akshaya Patra, remember to always be friendly around here, work hard and ask questions. As you never know asking even a smallest of doubt, might give you the answer to the biggest and the most unsolvable question of your life!

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4

To apply for internship with The Akshaya Patra Foundation, you can contact us on hr.helpdesk@akshayapatra.org

The Akshaya Patra Foundation was certified as a Great Place to Work by Great Place to Work® Institute. Apart from employees, our interns play a major role in making the place what it is. They share their experience with us.

Q. Why did you choose this Organization?
A. One of the reasons why I’ve chosen to become a lawyer is to give back to the society that I’m a part of and Akshaya Patra provided me with an opportunity to do precisely that. The organisation being the largest Mid-Day Meal programmes in the country working towards the eradication of malnutrition and thereby increasing access to education among the underprivileged allows me to precisely that.

Q. How is your typical day like?
A. Well my regular day would start at 10 and it would involve reviewing the activities that would be done throughout the day and then we would get down to business. Work involves researching and identifying potential donors which engage in CSR. Once a comprehensive list has been drawn up, the next task involves pointing out the specific individual within the company who handles these functions. Once this has been done, the next step would be making the cold call to the concerned individual in order to establish a relationship.

This goes on till we break for lunch at 1 where we eat a great meal courtesy from Akshaya Patra.
Work then resumes from 2 and them we keep working till 6:30 after which we conclude.

Q. What are the challenges you faced so far? How did you overcome them?
A. I believe one of my biggest challenges was managing my time and adhering to set and strict deadlines. As a member of a corporate work space, it was important that I learnt to manage my time efficiently and I overcame this challenge by drawing up a time table for myself strictly adhering to it which worked for me.

Q. Any memorable moment you had at TAPF? What did you like most about interning here?
A. I believe one of the best things about working at TAPF would be the work environment and the amazing people who worked there making my entire internship memorable. Everyone made me feel welcome and as one of their own making my work experience that much more enjoyable and productive.

Q. Why do you think Akshaya Patra is a ‘Great Place to Work’?
A. I believe that TAPF is a Great Place to Work for multiple reasons, ranging from the amazing work atmosphere that it provides, friendly co-workers, a top management that constantly works towards making your work experience that much more comfortable. Every day is a new experience with new challenges and there is a great sense of team spirit which allows for more opportunities to take on these challenges head on as a team and reaching towards more viable solutions.

Q. Why did you choose this Organization?
A. I chose it because The Akshaya Patra Foundation is one of the well-known organizations in Bangalore.

Q. How’s your typical day like?
A. It started with my work being assigned by my mentor. We got a lunch break at 1 and would break for tea at around 11:30.

Q. What are the challenges you faced so far? How did you overcome them?
A. My experience at The Akshaya Patra Foundation is something that is extremely special and important to me, as it was the first time that I worked as an intern. My mentor Bala, was extremely supportive of me and made sure that I got all the help that I required in overcoming every challenge,

Q. Any memorable moment you had at TAPF? What did you like most about interning here?
A. After making over 200 follow up and cold calls each day, associating and starting conversation with multiple corporates, setting a couple of meetings, I believe that I’ve achieved a tremendous amount of learning experience which has helped me at a personal level.

Q. Why do you think Akshaya Patra is a ‘Great Place to Work’?
A. I’m beyond thankful to The Akshaya Patra Foundation for giving me this opportunity to intern with them and contribute my bit towards the idea and motive of the foundation, that I believe in too.

Part 1    Part 2    Part 3

The Akshaya Patra Foundation was certified as a Great Place to Work by Great Place to Work® Institute. Apart from employees, our interns play a major role in making the place what it is. They share their experience with us.

Q. Why did you choose this organisation?
A. I chose it because The Akshaya Patra Foundation is one of the well-known organisations in Bangalore. I also wanted to work with an organisation that focused on improving the lives of children.

Q. How was your typical day like?
A. It would start with my mentor assigning me work for the day. We would get a break for tea at around 11:30 a.m., lunch break at 1 p.m., and wrap our day by 4 p.m.  We got a lunch break at 1 and would break for tea at around 11:30.

Q. What were the challenges you faced? How did you overcome them?
A. This was my first experience as an intern and my mentor guided me at every step, from working on social media to doing write-ups, and editorials. There were no such challenges.

Q. Any memorable moment you had at TAPF? What did you like most about interning here?
A. I had the opportunity of visiting one of the schools and interacted with the children and teachers and it was a memorable day.

Q. Why do you think Akshaya Patra is a ‘Great Place to Work’?
A. Akshaya Patra has a healthy work environment and my mentor was extremely helpful. Alongside learning new things, I enjoyed working at TAPF.

Q. Why did you choose this organisation?
A. Akshaya Patra is an organisation which started off with a goal to feed a few hundred underprivileged students but  feeds millions of children today, with a very wide networking system. I wanted to work with an organisation that works for the betterment of children’s lives as well as one that would give me exposure to the functioning of an NGO.

Q. How’s your typical day like?
A. My day would start off with a light conversation with my mentor and then I would be assigned my work, with which if I had any difficulty I would approach my mentor.

Q. What were the challenges you faced? How did you overcome them?
A. This was my first internship so I had trouble in drafting a formal write-up while putting forth my message in an interesting way, but my mentor gave me tips and guided me the whole way.

Q. Any memorable moment you had at TAPF? What did you like most about interning here?
A. While working on a project, I got an opportunity to visit one of the government schools and interact with the children and teachers, it was the most memorable day of my internship.

Q. Why do you think Akshaya Patra is a great place to work?
A. TAPF has a very friendly yet professional work environment and my mentor was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Besides this, I enjoyed the lunch.

Part 1    Part 2

December is a good time to look back upon the year that’s gone by. This makes December 5 an apt day to be International Volunteer Day. Various volunteer institutions and individual volunteers, understanding the need for their contribution to society, have selflessly been a part of various volunteer activities throughout the year.

This reminds us of the recent floods in Gorakhpur and Gujarat, where the contribution by various volunteers has been commendable. They have helped the denizens cope with the damage caused by the disaster.

International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development, also known an International Volunteer Day (IV Day), is a great day to recall all of their contributions. It is a day dedicated by the United Nations since 1985 to give a people an opportunity to make visible contributions.

Theme this year:

The theme for 2017 – ‘Volunteers Act First. Here. Everywhere.’ recognises volunteers as the first person available to help times of crisis. They ensure their presence around us in times of need, save lives and support people. They brave dangers to help others. They are driven by the will to make a difference to those in need of assistance. This year, the day recognises contribution of such individuals and organisations.

Why volunteering?

The contribution by volunteers help in implementing new global goals. The development can be sustainable and mobilise and engage Governments and communities. It’s not about money all the time. While the individual and community benefits from the effort put in the volunteers, it can have a lasting impact on the progress of the individual themselves.

• Wellbeing

Volunteering for a cause makes a person feel a sense of accomplishment. According to The Corporation for National and Community Service, volunteering improves psychological and physical health. It helps them build social networks.

• Resume building

Such activities help in building resume. The mention of these in your resume demonstratesthat volunteer work is also an important part of your resume. A history of volunteering activities in your resume shows your willingness to work for the betterment of the society.

• Positive parenting

Volunteer activities are important to teach children the importance of sharing and caring among children. Developing these emotions in children well in advance can make them responsible individuals.

Akshaya Patra’s role in social development

With a mission to ensure that no child in India is deprived of education due to hunger, the organisation performs a selfless task of delivering freshly-made nutritious meals to over 1.6 million children across India. The Foundation runs the largest NGO-run school lunch programme.

The meals are cooked in our 34 kitchens in 32 locations across India. The dishes are prepared in a way that the meal meets the nutritional guidelines prescribed by the Government under the Mid Day Meal Scheme. This initiative ensures that the children get nutritious meals once in a day so that they turn out to be healthy individuals.

The programme has been running successfully with support from the Central and State Governments.

Be a volunteer

The Foundation invites individuals and corporates to be a part of the cause by volunteering with us. You can either be physically present or raise funds for the cause online.

You can help the kitchen staff prepare meals by cutting vegetables. You can help in offloading the vegetables at the kitchen or help the staff in loading the trucks with cooked meals. You can serve children in school and organise some activities for children at their schools.

If time is a constraint, you can help the Foundation by sharing information about the cause on your social media networks. You can start a fundraising campaign on our website.

Volunteer with The Akshaya Patra Foundation to ensure that our future generation grows up to be healthy and well-educated.