The Akshaya Patra Foundation is the largest NGO in the world to implement the mid-day meal program. Behind this simple statement lies a decade of hard work and selfless dedication of all the people that make up the Akshaya Patra family.

Missionaries are an important part of that family. They work tirelessly everyday to ensure that the food reaching out to the children is both nutritious and hygienic. They ensure that the day to day operations of the kitchens follow strict regulations and principles.

Often it is the missionaries who make the innovations and changes that are implemented in many of the kitchens. They work hard to maintain the smooth flow of the operations and put together the improvements required to make our kitchens the best in India.

Shri Yudhishtira Krishna Dasa, the Location Head of Bellary, embodies the spirit of the missionaries when he says “I want to reach out to more children so that we bring a smile to each child. This will give the ultimate satisfaction. This program will give children an opportunity to serve the country better and they will definitely give in a much better way.”

It was their day and we wanted to give them something to remember! And going by the smiles at the end of the day, we at Udaan, can certainly say that we indeed gave them a reason to smile and an occasion to remember!

Udaan, a youth initiative of The Akshaya Patra Foundation was launched on 14th November 09. Our objective is to give wings to the dreams of the children in the schools where our school meal program is operational. We do this by organizing extra-curricular activities that help nurture the talent in the children. Our team of volunteers works directly with the children, helping them participate in activities and become confident young members of our society.

On the occasion of Children’s Day, we launched the program at Malleshwaram Government Model Primary School and invited the children of Government Urdu Medium School Malleshwaram to join us too. In all, we had 210 children participate in the event. As a run-up to the event, we had organized a special activity in the school on 13th November 2009. The Udaan team had visited the school with decorative colored papers, balloons, ribbons, etc. and adorned the walls of the classrooms. We invited the children to participate in a craft session with us.

The program on Children’s Day, started with colorful hand-prints of the children, teachers, and every one present, including our Executive Director and the Chief Guest Mr. S.B.Iyer (Retd. Director of ISRO). We also screened an exclusive video of the PSLV launch and the children were thrilled to see this.

We then rolled out ‘Bucket Full of Crayons’, our painting and art competition. It brought out the beautiful thoughts of children through the medium of colors and art. Uninhibited by a theme, the children expressed themselves freely and enjoyed putting their ideas on paper through visuals. The next event was a fun activity. The children had to dress with newspaper. They dressed themselves with different types of caps, bands skirts, etc. all made with newspaper. This was a group activity that brought together students from two different schools and saw them bonding well. By the end of the game we could see a good friendship between the children of the Kannada medium and the Urdu medium schools. It was certainly a day filled with high energy, positivity, hope and laughter. The cherry on the cake was the special Akshaya Patra food served to the children, which made them feel special.

Akshaya Patra and Udaan would like to thank all the volunteers who worked hard to make this day happen.

We, at Udaan, look forward to soaring to greater heights through the coming year.