Every day of school is synonymous with fun, friends and free unlimited food for children. They looked forward to coming to school because they get to meet their friends, narrate experiences of the previous day and sit together to eat their mid-day meals. With the on-going chaos caused by the COVID pandemic, schools, colleges and offices are shut down indefinitely. Children who were dependent on one source of wholesome meal a day were left without a wholesome source of nutrition to fight the virus.

Earlier during school, the sound of the delivery van brought on a 1000-watt smile on the faces of children. But, with schools closed down for a while, the delivery vans are left in their memories of children till schools reopen. If it was not for the COVID pandemic, children would have begun a new academic year and The Akshaya Patra Foundation would have continued implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme to feed children.

How did Akshaya Patra tackle this situation?
The COVID-19 virus could not stop The Akshaya Patra Foundation, an NGO in India that was synonymous with feeding school meals. In continuation of up-keeping the health of children and to engage them with school-related learning activities amid the pandemic, the Foundation started distributing Happiness Bags to its beneficiaries in Bengaluru, as a part of its feeding programme.

How would Happiness Bags help?

Each Box distributed to its beneficiaries:
• Ensures children continue to receive wholesome meals in the prevailing crisis.
• Boosts immunity and health of children.
• Ensures that basic hygiene requirements are addressed.
• Engages children in activities that support their continuous learning amid the lockdown.

Every Happiness Box supports the well-being of children by providing them with immunity, adequate nutrition, hygiene kit and learning materials.
• Nutrition – Adequate and right nutrition helps in giving children the energy required for proper physical and cognitive development.
• Immunity – Turmeric is known to boost immunity. Immunity boosters like sambar and turmeric powders help in improving resistance to diseases.
• Hygiene – Basic hygiene products like toothpaste, toothbrush and soap are provided to the beneficiaries. For girl children, a pack of sanitary napkins is provided as well.
• Education – To keep their minds active during the lockdown, an activity book, pencils or pens, crayon or colouring set and Classmate notebooks are packed in the box distributed to every child.

By supporting their food and education, we at Akshaya Patra look forward to bringing out the best in children because they are the ones who decide the future of our nation. This is why this initiative is of utmost importance. We are present in 52 locations spread across 12 States and 2 Union Territories of India. The pandemic has given us a strong reason to reach out to all the children we would have reached otherwise. Children hailing from challenging socio-economic backgrounds require your support. Pledge to feed a child with Akshaya Patra’s Happiness Box initiative. Every little child has the right to food and education, even amid the crisis hour. All we need to do is give the right resources to strengthen them and their cognitive abilities.

Provide Happiness Bags to help children become physically stronger and intellectually sharper

Your greatness is not what you have, but in what you give, said Alice Hawker.
This saying holds good even today. Charity means generosity in giving something to the needy out of kindness. This act could involve doing charitable acts at home or making charitable donations towards various NGOs. It is a widely believed notion that charity brings prosperity. Prosperity means a range of things that include:
• Spiritual growth
• Success
• Financial gain
• Profit in return
Involving in an act of charity generally means that apart from our own self, you help someone else’s life to get better. As one big society and family, we need to create a supportive environment for each other’s well-being.

What are the benefits of making a donation?
By contributing towards making someone’s life better:

• You change a person’s life completely – While you help those in need, you develop positive characters in yourself. When you support in relieving others from their struggles, you gain another perspective in life – a perspective in which you start understanding other’s struggles.
• You set an example for the next generation – Generosity can be a simple concept which can teach children to be a ‘giver’ and kind. When children grow up into being generous adults, a mature selfless is established where everyone takes care of each other. Children will know that giving their time, energy and actions without expecting anything in return is a high form of reward.
• You gain happiness and satisfaction for having changed lives – A study from Syracuse University in 2007, concluded that people who are likely to give, declare themselves to be more than non-givers.
How we treat other is how we would like to be treated ourselves. This is a golden rule of life that drives all of us to help others consistently.

What are the different forms of helping others?
There is no limitation to work towards the betterment of people. There are different ways in which one can do good. This can either be by donating in-kind towards a cause or by making online donations. There are millions of NGOs in India that are in need of charitable donations.
One such charity in India is The Akshaya Patra Foundation, which implements the Central Government’s Mid-Day Meal Programme.

Benefits of donating to Akshaya Patra
Donating healthy meals to children helps them to grow into responsible citizens of tomorrow. It helps in:
• Overall physical and cognitive development of children.
• Increasing the attention span and ability to concentrate better in class.
• Decreasing school dropout rates.
• Increasing number of children enrolling in schools.
• Improving nutritional levels in children.

By giving them a well-deserved school life, you increase your chances of receiving goodness in your life. Apart from getting millions of good-wishes, you benefit monetarily with Akshaya Patra. This means that you gain tax exemption on every donation made towards Akshaya Patra’s cause. Give more to gain more happiness in your life.

Your donation can be the reason for millions of smiles