A father figure is often the backbone of a child’s development and emotional well-being. He is the unsung superhero who loves quietly but gives endlessly to his children. He sets aspirations for his family and disciplines his children so that they grow into physically and emotionally strong individuals in the years to come.

However, fathers in underprivileged communities sometimes struggle to even earn enough for a day, leave alone setting aspirations for the future. Children born in such families often end up working for additional earnings to support their families. Attending school becomes an undying dream for them.

Role of mid day meals (MDM) in child development

Schools serving mid day meals to children are a boon to families from underserved communities. Parents from such families agree to send their children to school since it takes away the burden of feeding them even once a day.

School meals not only bring children to school but a carefully planned menu also helps fight malnutrition in children. For instance, the cyclical mid-day meal menu at Akshaya Patra, an NGO in India, follows guidelines from The Supreme Court of India and the Ministry of Education (formerly known as the Ministry of Human Resource Development).

The Foundation caters to the nutritional needs of both primary and upper primary school children. Moreover, the food prepared caters to their local palates to avoid wastage.

Such a well-planned menu from Akshaya Patra, ensures that children enjoy their school meals. Little to no wastage ensures that children receive complete nourishment which strengthens their vital organs, immunity and stamina, thus helping them stay active throughout the day.

Akshaya Patra’s fatherly concern for its beneficiaries

Akshaya Patra was started in 2000 with the aim that ‘No child in India shall be deprived of education because of food.’ The NGO in India began by feeding 1,500 children and partnered with the Government of India to efficiently implement the much-needed mid day meal (MDM) programme mandated in 2001.

Ever since, the Foundation went through multiple ups and downs but never lost its way, just like a father. For 21 years, it has grown to feed 1.8 million children in 14 states and 2 Union Territories from 61 kitchens across India.

Like a parent, Akshaya Patra strives to enhance its meal preparation processes to ensure minimum human-touch, improvements in kitchen operations are incorporated:

• Centralized mega kitchens with 100,000 meals cooking capacity
• Cooking utensils made of food-safe stainless steel of 304 Grade that are sanitized before every use
• Quality assurance processes such as Supplier Selection, Supplier Qualification, Supplier Rating etc. that ensure the procurement of right and high-quality raw materials
• Vegetables procured and sorted out on a daily basis to ensure they are fresh and of best quality
• Kaizen, CI Projects and Six Sigma methodologies for constant improvement
• Meals prepared from a standardized cyclical menu
• Well-structured Quality Assurance Programme implemented during Pre-Production, Production and Post-Production stages of meal preparation
• Daily feedbacks taken from schools while delivering meals
• Audits and surveys conducted on a daily, monthly and yearly basis.

Father’s day celebration with Akshaya Patra

The Foundation is registered with the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 and runs the largest NGO-run school lunch programme in the world. So when you start a fundraising campaign or donate in honour of your father to Akshaya Patra, be rest assured that your contribution will reach the children who need it the most. Your support like that of a father will encourage our beneficiaries to dream big and strive fearlessly to achieve them.

So, why wait? This Father’s Day, donate online and celebrate with Akshaya Patra, a father’s care, sacrifices and tough love by nourishing children and their big dreams.

Mother’s day is fast approaching. You can express the love of a selfless mother on this special occasion with a thoughtful donation to support children. Won’t it be a perfect gift to let her know that you honour her spirit of care and concern?

When you donate to NGOs, you change the lives of people bereaved of basic needs. Akshaya Patra is an NGO in India that uses contributions from generous donors like you to serve mid-day meals to 1.8 million children across 60 locations in India.

Mid-day meals not only fill the stomachs of children from challenging backgrounds but also nourish them for a holistic psychosocial development while taking care of their physical growth too. We prepare the meals to match the local flavour of the beneficiaries to bring smiles to their faces and avoid wastage of food.

Your donation this Mother’s Day can feed a child for an entire academic year.

Just as a generous mother, we, at Akshaya Patra, never stop feeding these young and bright minds. We direct donations from benevolent contributors like you to ensure continuous improvement in meal preparation procedures and to guarantee high-quality meals for children.

Akshaya Patra started by feeding just 1,500 children in five schools in 2000. But we are now working relentlessly to support mothers and other sections of our population, who are deprived of the required support. Thus, the aim now is a collective progress that you can be a part of!

Akshaya Patra as a Mother
Akshaya Patra is known for running the world’s largest NGO-run Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Programme. Every day, it feeds 18,00,907 children studying in Government and Government-aided schools.

Being as safe as a careful mother, our authorities follow strict sanitization and hygiene guidelines to prepare meals in the most hygienic manner. We use clean uniforms, gloves, gumboots, caps to cover hair and masks to cover mouths every single day.

Meal Preparation at Akshaya Patra Involves

• Centralized mega kitchens with 100,000 meals cooking capacity.
• Semi-automated kitchens to minimize human touch.
• Cooking utensils made of food-safe stainless steel of 304 Grade that are sanitized before every use.
• Kaizen, CI Projects and Six Sigma methodologies for constant improvement and involvement of every member.
• Meals prepared from a standardized cyclical menu.
• Well-structured Quality Assurance programme implemented during Pre-Production, Production and Post-Production stages of meal preparation.

Why Mid-DayMeals?
The Supreme Court of India mandated the Mid-Day Meal Programme (MDM) in 2001 to support children’s growth requirements with free nutritious meals in government and government-aided schools.

Several not-for-profit entities partnered with the Government of India for effective implementation of the programme. Akshaya Patra is an NGO in India that works on a Public-Private Partnership model to provide mid-day meals for children from low-income families.

Nutritional Guidelines Followed at Akshaya Patra

Guidelines by the Supreme Court of India
• Every child must get a minimum of 300 calories and 8-12 grams of protein per day.
• Adequate nutrition must be provided on all school days for a minimum of 200 days.

Mid-Day Meal Guidelines by the Ministry of Human Resource Department
• Every meal must contain carbohydrates, proteins, and micronutrients such as iron, folic acid, Vitamin A etc.
• Primary school children must receive at least 450 calories with 12 grams of protein, while upper primary and secondary school children must receive 700 calories with 20 grams of protein.

Since its inception in 2000, The Akshaya Patra Foundation is persevering to meet all these requirements, while maintaining a certified quality and constantly improvising based on the beneficiary schools’ feedback.

Your Contribution This Mother’s Day

Your motherly concern for a brief moment on this special occasion will contribute to our efforts in executing new programmes that will support homeless mothers and mid-day meal beneficiaries across India. So, join our mission to ensure that ‘no child in India is deprived of education because of food’ and ’to feed 5 million children by 2025’.