BOSCH the world’s largest supplier of automobile components has been supporting the cause of The Akshaya Patra Foundation as a part of their corporate social responsibilities all these days. Lately the company wanted its employees to join this movement and contribute towards it.

Mr. Prabhakar, Ms. Usha & Dr. Raghavan, part of CSR initiative decided to design an employee engagement program where the employees would volunteer to adopt a school for the feeding program. The objective was to encourage the employees to personally involve and take the initiative to support the cause they believe in.

Soon after the message reached the employees, a highly enthusiastic team of five people led by Mr. Prabhakar registered themselves as champions and took up the responsibility of creating a buzz about Akshaya Patra among their fellow colleagues. In next few days 22 more employees joined the program and came in to volunteer for Akshaya Patra. Within a very short span of two weeks the number shot up to 180 volunteers. Each volunteer multiplied to the power of ten every day, making the program stronger with each passing sunlight hours. The volunteers drove the program within the company and started collecting donation from employees who wanted to contribute towards the cause. The initiative taken by the staff of BOSCH Automotive inspired BOSCH Software employees to participate in the program and volunteer for The Akshaya Patra Foundation.

This great initiative was marked by a program in Munichannappa Government Primary School at Adugodi organized by volunteers from BOSCH. Mr. Bhattacharya, Vice President BOSCH addressed the children saying that he wants them to be equally competitive as students in any other elite schools and make a remarkable career in future. Mr. Shridhar Venkat, Executive Director of The Akshaya Patra Foundation also spoke to the children asking them to dream big. He added that the nutritious food served by Akshaya Patra will always help them to chase their dream with strength and conviction and make them come true.The program ended with Mr. Bhattacharya handing over the donations collected by BOSCH employees (Volunteers) to Mr. Shridhar Venkat.

The employees of BOSCH have set an example for professionals in different corporate who wants to contribute towards a cause but their hectic schedule holds them back.

As Akshaya Patra races ahead from zero to over 1.2 million, its noble cause is complemented by someone who is known for ‘flirting with speed’. Sudharshana Rao Karwal, one of India’s leading racers has decided to endorse the world’s largest NGO-run mid day meal programme, Akshaya Patra. The ‘need for speed’ of this 25-year-old lad from Bangalore has made him proud to be the first racer from Karnataka to win the JK Tyre national racing title. Being qualified as a trained pilot in the US, Sudharshana aspires to chase his dream down to the Formula one track.
“It gives me immense pleasure to represent a social cause like that of Akshaya Patra, which believes in the concept of unlimited food for education” he says. Sudharshana is one of the hopefuls at this season of the JK Tyre Formula Rolon, the biggest motorsport in the country, starting mid-July. He believes that his success can help the foundation reach out to the masses. “It’s good if more people know about Akshaya Patra and I hope this comes out in a big way” he adds. “A programme like this should be across all boundaries” he says talking about how hunger and poverty have become such perils on the road to development. He also believes that education is an essential ingredient to tackling the problems.
Inspired by the record-breaking multiple F1 champion Michael Schumacher, he wants to shift gears in international racing tournaments as well. “I want to go abroad and take Akshaya Patra along with me,” he says.