Issues & Causes

Akshaya Patra Foundation:

World’s Largest NGO-run Mid-day Meal Program

A public-private partnership, Akshaya Patra combines good management, innovative technology and smart engineering to deliver school lunch at a fraction of the cost of similar programs in other parts of the world. The program started in 2000 by feeding 1,500 children from a temporary kitchen in Bangalore, India. Currently, we distribute freshly cooked, healthy meals daily to 1.3 million underprivileged children in 8,000 government schools through 19 kitchens in eight states in India.

It costs $15 to feed a child daily for the entire school year with government subsidy. For many of the children this is their only complete meal for the day. This gives them an incentive to come to school, stay in school and provides them with the necessary nutrients they need to develop their cognitive abilities to focus on learning. In ten years, the foundation has grown to become one of the largest, and certainly most innovative, school lunch programs in the world. Akshaya Patra is a great example of what can be accomplished when the public sector, private sector and civic society collaborate--a cost effective, scalable solution with high quality service delivery.

Brent’s Place: Gyanidhi Foundation also realizes and understands the challenges of families who have a child with cancer and propose to support Brents Place which is a home for kids with cancer. It is a safe, clean, and healthy home away from home for cancer patients and their families located in Denver, Colorado. Brents place comprises of a campus of meticulously maintained apartments designed to protect from inadvertent infections. For more details visit Brents Place online at http://www.brentsplace.org/