National Public Radio (NPR) covers the story of Akshaya Patra -
At a government-run public middle school in Bangalore, the blackboard's cracking, the textbooks are tattered and most of the students are barefoot.
But with all those challenges, the biggest obstacle that teachers face in keeping kids in school is hunger. Many students show up at school having had nothing to eat for breakfast.
On mornings one student comes to school hungry, the thought of school makes her break down, she says.
"When I had to get on the bus, I would start crying," says K. Suchitra, 13.
Suchitra is an unusually talented student, says her teacher, Sheelavati Shakti. She shows a strong aptitude for music and dance, and is strong academically.
But when she joined this school a year ago, Suchitra looked unhealthy, Shakti says. Her skin was discolored, but she didn't have an infection; she was just malnourished.
Suchitra's life has recently been turned around, however. An ambitious school lunch program now supplies kids at her middle school with a nutritious, freshly cooked meal. On days she comes to school hungry, she knows she can eat at school.
"After eating this food I've become stronger," Suchitra says. "That's why I'm able to come to school and study and play."
The skin discoloration disappeared after she started the lunch program, Suchitra says. But the program has done more than improve her physical health; it's allowed her to dream of a better life. She now imagines going to college to study science. And one day, she says, she hopes to become a software engineer.
The lunch program that provides meals to Suchitra's school currently feeds 1.3 million children across India, making it one of the largest school lunch programs in the world.
It was initially begun more than a decade ago as part of the religious outreach of a Hindu group known as ISKCON, better known in the West as the Hare Krishna movement.
The Hindu group is still actively involved in the program. But the lunch program is now operated as a secular, public-private partnership, serving poor children of all backgrounds.
Government officials supply grain and other lunch ingredients at a discount, and provide a cash subsidy. Donors from India and around the world supply the rest.
"Feeding a child is not charity," says Shridhar Venkat, who directs the lunch program through the Akshaya Patra Foundation. He used to be a corporate executive. To him, a child like Suchitra is not a hungry 13-year-old girl in poverty. She's an opportunity, and giving her lunch is an investment. Tomorrow, an educated Suchitra could produce a huge return on that investment to her community, he said.
The program prepares most of the food using centralized kitchens. Some 17,000 pounds of rice and 4,500 gallons of soup are produced by one kitchen in Bangalore. Engineers have designed the kitchen and the logistics of delivering the food to schools.
"We have never failed to deliver a meal on any day in the last 11 years," Venkat says.
The program is so cost-effective it's become a Harvard Business School case study. Today it costs only about 11 cents to place a meal before each child. By 2020, the program hopes to feed 5 million children every day.
The combination of efficiency and high purpose makes for a strange marriage: ruthlessly efficient corporate management techniques married to a goal that is deeply emotional.
"We want to do things with heart," Venkat says. "It's not just, 'build large kitchens.' All these large kitchens have a big heart."
Venkat is constantly looking for ways to increase efficiency so the program can feed more children. He studies the data to see if the lunch program is having a discernible effect. He's recently noticed more children are coming to school on one particular day each week: the day the lunch program includes dessert.
Venkat said he was going to try to use the inducement of dessert to get kids to come to school. Typically, the children know on which day dessert is going to be included in lunch.
"We are trying to make it a secret, so they keep guessing and they come to school," he says with a laugh.
Independent audits of the program have found it's having a profound effect.
"The school attendance goes up, malnutrition level comes down, dropout rates comes down," Venkat says.
But besides the statistics, Venkat says he regularly sees the human face of the results.
A young man recently visited Venkat. He was in one of the earliest cohorts of children who've been helped by the lunch program.
The man told Venkat he was the son of a security guard. When the son was in the eighth grade, his father was earning less than a dollar a day. He was so hungry, he used to faint at school. Academically, he was scraping by. Then, the free lunch program started.
"He told me, 'My attention span went up. My concentration went up,'" Venkat says. So did the boy's grades. He went on to college and became an engineer. When the young man visited Venkat, he handed him an envelope.
"And the envelope ... had an offer letter from India's leading multinational software company as a software programmer," Venkat says.
The Akshaya Patra Foundation was awarded the “Innovation for India Award” in the Social category by the Marico Innovation Foundation. The Akshaya Patra Foundation’s mid-day meal program was deemed a strong innovation with a powerful impact that is making a significant difference to India.
During a talk show on NDTV Profit, Infosys Founder Mr. Narayan Murthy, mentions The Akshaya Patra Foundation as a perfect example of Public Private Partnership. He further points out how the Foundation involves the respective state governments, individuals and corporate donors to feed 1.3 million children everyday across 8 states and 18 locations of India. He says one doesn’t need to be a ‘sanyasi’ and go to Himalayas to do good to the society. We can contribute to the society even while having fun. He further tells the audience about how efficiently Akshaya Patra has used technology and engineering skills of people to fight hunger and eradicate poverty. 
Akshaya Patra UK is pleased to announce the opening of its very first charity shop in -The Mall, Market Square, Uxbridge. We will be selling mostly men's, women's, and children's clothing. What sets us apart from other Charity shops is that all our stock is brand new. Most garments have been donated to Akshaya Patra by wholesalers in the UK and abroad, all proceeds from the sales will be used to provide meals to those 1.3 million children Akshaya Patra are feeding at the moment. The shop was officially opened on the 16th September by the Mayor of Hillingdon, Mary O'Connor, and is mostly run by dedicated volunteers and a full time manager.
The World Food Awards were hosted on October 1st and with food at the very heart of Akshaya Patra, our Chairman, Mr Harin Thaker spoke at the event. He reminded these producers and lovers of food of the importance of feeding the world’s children. Harin encouraged the attendees to dig deep and get involved with the cause. This star studded event was attended by 900 guests from the food industry and was presented by comedian and children’s charity advocate Lenny Henry. The awards are due to be televised on Star TV, 5th November at 7pm and will be well worth a watch!
Ashish Goyal, a trader from JP Morgan lost his eyesight at the age of 22. Yet despite this setback, he tells us that learning about the cause of Akshaya Patra has made him realise how blessed he is. The loss of his eyesight hasn't stopped him from climbing up the career ladder to become VP of Cross Markets at JP Morgan and it didn't stop him from taking on a challenge on behalf of Akshaya Patra. Ashish said he contemplated marathons and bike rides when he decided he wanted to raise awareness for our charity. Instead, he settled his mind on tackling rabbit holes.
A test of endurance with a history of 40 years, the three peaks challenge is no easy feat. On the 10th September, Vimal Pau (whose family owns the Santok Group) along with 14 of his friends took on that challenge; climbing to the three highest peaks of Scotland, England and Wales.
APBL, home of Gujarat Samachar and Asian voice hosted a gala dinner in central London, raising around £55,000. The grand event was held at the Crown Plaza on the 30th June and included a champagne reception sponsored by Mr Prashant Jhawar, our advisory board member. The MC for the evening Alpesh Patel, of Praefinium Partners who revealed his inner showman by being a lively host and a persuasive auctioneer. The House of Lords Teddy Bears were auctioned off for £500 each and proved to be quite popular, especially with a room full of Lords. The 120 attendees heard informative speeches by CB Patel ,Editor of the Gujarat Samachar, Lord Dholakia, and Lord Popat of Harrow. Our chairman Harin Thaker thanked everyone who participated in the auction and applauded the UK team for their efforts. Guests were treated to a short and informative film about the growth of Akshaya Patra and the dedicated work undertaken by everyone involved in the charity. A special thanks goes to CB Patel, who lists Akshaya Patra as one of his two favourite charities and to Mrs Jyotsnaben Shah and Mr L. George (the APBL team) for organising and hosting such a fantastic evening for Akshaya Patra.
Mr Vimal Pau, is undertaking The Three Peaks Challenge with some of his friends on 10th September 2011. The climb starts in Wales with Mount Snowdon, followed by Scafell Pike in England and finishing at Ben Nevis in Scotland, all three in just 24 hours!
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