Akshaya Patra has been expanding its operations by leaps and strides recently. The last two months have seen the organisation open its 23rd kitchen at Cuttack, in the state of Odisha in July, and inaugurate its Ahmedabad kitchen in August.

The kitchen at Cuttack is the Foundation’s 21st centralised kitchen, and the fourth kitchen in Odisha. The kitchen was developed through the assistance of Primary Donor, The Kusuma Foundation, RC Infinity Foundation (Kolkata), LIC Golden Jubilee Foundation, NALCO, and the Odisha Mining Corporation.

The kitchen was inaugurated by Honourable Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik, along with General Surat Singh Sandhu, the Chairman of The Kusuma Foundation, and Pankaj Vinayak Sharma, the country leader of The Kusuma Foundation.

The Cuttack kitchen is fitted with state-of-the-art equipment that allows it to undertake large scale cooking, and currently feeds 45,000 children across 190 schools a day, with the intention to expand further.

The Ahmedabad kitchen which was inaugurated on 03 August, 2014 was developed to replace the Akshaya Patra kitchen at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. This kitchen is one of the largest in India; spread over two acres of land, with a capacity to cook up to 200,000 meals in five hours.

The kitchen was inaugurated by the Honourable Chief Minister of Gujarat, Anandiben Patel, and Vasuben Trivedi, Minister of State-Women and Child Development, Government of Gujarat and other eminent dignitaries.

This kitchen is a fully automated enterprise which employs the gravity-flow system in its operations process, is equipped with a full scale bakery to provide the children with wheat items, and also fitted with a roti making machine capable of making 60,000 rotis an hour! This kitchen will feed 121,508 children across 666 schools in the Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar area.

The Ahmedabad kitchen was primarily sponsored by The Hans Foundation, Co-Sponsored by the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), with support from Chimanlal Agrawal & Family, and Nandlal Agrawal & Family.

These two kitchens exemplify Akshaya Patra’s commitment towards fulfilling its mission of feeding five million children by 2020, as well as showcases the Foundation’s adherence to using only the best practices, equipment and philosophy to help end classroom hunger in India.

Happy birthday, dear reader!

So where’s the party going to be? We simply love birthdays! There’s such an air of excitement – of the gifts you will receive, the heartfelt wishes that make your day, the big or small bash you’d share with your loved ones – each moment of the day is special. This year, we’d like to make a small suggestion to make your day a little extra special.

Give a return gift to a child who is #HungryForSchool.

There are millions of children in India who do not go to school, as they work to earn their daily meal. At Akshaya Patra, we give them a ticket out of this vicious cycle. We provide them with a hearty lunch at school. Does it work? There has been a spike of 28 per cent in enrolments this year, and it is directly attributed to the food we serve.

So how much does it take to feed a child who is #HungryForSchool? Rs. 750 is enough to feed one child for a whole academic year. We ask you to make a small contribution on your big day, and make a huge difference to a child’s future. This year, have a blast, or have a quiet party, but share a slice of your joy with a child who is #HungryForSchool. Give him/her a return gift of Rs. 750.