In developing countries like India, one in six children is underweight while 66 million primary school age children attend class every day on an empty stomach. Our children are the future of our country, and it’s time we fight for their independence – their independence from hunger and illiteracy.

Food and education are two of the fundamental rights of every child in India. But prohibited access to these two rights has kept millions across the country locked in a cycle of hunger and poverty. The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been working incessantly over the past fifteen years to change this narrative by providing free food for education to children in India.

Although we now feed over 1.4 million children a day, and are working to feed 5 million by 2020, there is a long road ahead of us. To truly rid India of child hunger, the combined efforts of the entire nation is required.

Join with us on this Independence Day to be a part of India’s freedom struggle against classroom hunger.

One child can have a huge impact on another child’s life with just a simple donation. Encouraging a child to do something outside the realms of academia in support of another child helps foster a sense of compassion and shapes a grateful attitude towards society. This is what makes the Me & You campaign organised by The Akshaya Patra Foundation inspiring.

The campaign encouraged young children from two international schools in Bengaluru to contribute something to our beneficiary children in Government schools. The campaign drove home the fact that by sacrificing something as small as Rs.63, even children can help feed an Akshaya Patra beneficiary for a month.

The campaign, which has so far run for one month, had youth volunteers from IIM Indore and Flame participating and encouraging students to sacrifice some of their small desires to feed a child. The first phase of the campaign was organised at Primus Public School on June 17, 2015. Volunteers from The International School Bangalore and Chitrakala Parishad joined the second phase of the campaign at Prakriya Public School on July 9, 2015.

The students from the two schools made generous donations, some of them even willing to donate their pocket money towards the cause. The 5th grade students from Primus school collated a generous contribution of Rs.66,000 which will be utilised to feed children in our beneficiary schools.

This generosity displayed at such an early age is heart-warming and will undoubtedly help the students become socially responsible citizens who make giving a regular part of their lives.