For over one and a half years now, schools have remained shut owing to the pandemic. In all these months, children coming from low-income backgrounds have neither received mid-day meals nor have they attended online classes due to lack of infrastructure. However, many NGOs came up with distributing grocery kits to these children. One such NGO in India was The Akshaya Patra Foundation that started the Happiness Kits initiative to support the health, hygiene and education of children.

Akshaya Patra asked children from Government and Government-aided schools what they wanted and what they missed the most. They missed going to school, either they were too bored, missed their friends, wanted a classroom environment or missed eating mid-day meals at school. Even after 18 months since the onset of the pandemic, children remain at home and want to go back to school.

See what the mid-day meal beneficiaries have to say:

Some states of India have reopened schools by following guidelines stated by the Ministry of education. Now that children have started going back to school, the smiles on their faces are self-explanatory of their happiness and joy.

Currently, Akshaya Patra is running the Government’s Mid-Day Meal Scheme in few parts of four states of India, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana. Since the reopening of the schools following the pandemic, a total of 44.6 lakh locally palatable meals have been distributed to children coming from challenging socio-economic backgrounds.

Some of the meals served to mid-day meal beneficiaries in:

In Uttar Pradesh, children from Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Mathura and Vrindavan have been receiving their daily source of nutrition from mid-day meals.

In Andhra Pradesh, children from Gambheeram, Kakinada, Kuppam, Managalagiri, Srikakulam, Vizag and Nellore receive their share of nutritious mid-day meals.

Children in Ballari, Karnataka receive nutritious school meals following the pandemic.

In Telangana, school children from Narsingi, Nawabpet and Kandi are currently being served freshly prepared mid-day meals.

Every state serves locally palatable meals to avoid wastage of food due to dislike of taste. Each meal is served according to nutritional requirement guidelines for Primary and Upper Primary students.

Akshaya Patra is doing its bit to ensure that children remain healthy by eating good food every day. You can support this NGO with your online donations of ₹1100 to serve mid-day meals to children for a whole academic year. When you donate online, you also get a tax exemption certificate for your good deed.

The world as we know it today is different from what it used to be a couple of years ago; it is a new world that has risen out of fear of the COVID-19 pandemic. What’s common is faces covered not with one but two masks, fist pumps, frequent sanitisation, handwashing and generosity that has supported the marginalised families and vulnerable communities.

Several donors have come forward to support NGOs in India that provide food relief, medical support, and the distribution of essentials in the country. One such organisation is The Akshaya Patra Foundation that has continuously focussed on the betterment of the lives of people who are suffering without food in this pandemic. The Foundation started serving cooked meals to people who had lost jobs and were struggling for food without any income. Since 25th March 2020, the organisation has served a cumulative of 151 million (15.1-crore) meals as of 15th July 2021.

Even today, the NGO works to provide food assistance to the people in need with various programmes. What started as serving only cooked meals, has expanded as a COVID relief service with the support of the Central Government, State Government, District Authorities, individual donors, corporate partners and volunteers. Akshaya Patra started providing grocery kits to support marginalised families, Happiness Kits to mid-day meal beneficiaries to support their health, hygiene, immunity and learning. These programmes gave way to support different sections of society.

People are suffering from the virus, pandemic-induced lockdown, loss of jobs, lack of money, lack of oxygen, loss of friends and relatives. Food should be the last thing to worry about. With all the above campaigns, Akshaya Patra aims to ensure that nobody is suffering due to hunger.

You can be a part of Akshaya Patra’s initiatives. All you have to do is donate online towards the cause you want to support.

• Meals support the needy individuals who are unable to source food on a daily basis.
• Roti & subzi/ rasam & rice/ khichdi is served to people.

• Happiness Kits support mid-day meal beneficiaries.
• It supports their health, hygiene & education.

• Supports marginalised families with essentials that can help them sustain for a fortnight.
• Cereals, oil, spices, toothpaste, soap bar, sanitary napkins come in this kit.

• Supports pregnant women & their baby to address nutritional deficiency in them.
• Provides malt-based protein mix, Ayurvedic Immunity builder, pulses, etc.

People are suffering from the virus, pandemic-induced lockdown, loss of jobs, lack of money, lack of oxygen, loss of friends and relatives. Food should be the last thing to worry about. With all the above campaigns, Akshaya Patra aims to ensure that nobody is suffering due to hunger.

You can be a part of Akshaya Patra’s initiatives. All you have to do is donate online towards the cause you want to support.

• To support school children in this pandemic, click here.
• To enable the sustenance of marginalised families, click here.
• To provide nutrition for pregnant mothers, click here.

There are millions of people in need but are hesitant to ask for support. Akshaya Patra helps bridge this gap and provides food assistance. Join its initiatives today!