Times of disaster: Helping those who need help the most

Disaster always calls for urgent measures. At times like this the country stands up to support those stricken by the tragedy and often support pours in from all corners. On the other hand, this is also a time, when people want to help but don’t know how or where to contribute and help. A fair section of those who give at this time end up getting disappointed, as they never hear about what happened to their money. That’s where organizations like ours step in to make a difference.
Akshaya Patra has been swift to respond to the need of the hour, helping victims of unfortunate tragedies. The recent example is of the floods in the Bellary district. Between 29 September-1 October 2009, Bellary district experienced heavy rains, which damaged agricultural fields, flooded the region, destroyed houses, and resulted in loss of life. The distriction administration reached out to Akshaya Patra on 2 October 2009, asking us to supply food for 10,000 people in the flood-affected areas of Bellary and Shirguppa Taluka.

While we geared up to meet the challenge in our kitchens, we knew that access to the people affected would not be easy! The villages were badly affected and the condition of the roads made the interiors inaccessible. However we rose to the challenge and began preparing the food immediately. We carried it to the concerned locations and were delivering it till 11 p.m. on the same day.

In the meantime, we had had further requests to from the Government of Karnataka to make 5000 food packets each for Mantralayam (AP State), where pepople from Karnataka were trapped in the different guest rooms, struggling for life and food; and for Shiraguppa Taluka. These food packets were taken from the Jindal Airport and loaded in the three Indian Airforce helicopters, which took them forward for distribution.

Akshaya Patra continued to feed the people of the flood-affected areas for three days, serving lemon rice or vegetable pulao for lunch and rice, sambhar, and yogurt in the evenings. Our regular school meal vehicles were used for this operation. On 4 October, we distributed another 20,000 food packets through the Indian Air force and Army helicopters to the neighboring districts of Bagalkot, Bijapur, and the Shiragoppa Taluka, in all sending 42,000 food packets.

Standing up for the nation and our people, makes us reflect on the all-important purpose for our existence. We work hard to ensure that children across India, don’t lose out on education because of hunger. Our robust systems and technology has enabled us to feed over a million children everyday. Standing for the spirit of upliftment of society, we are honored to have been the chosen partners for the food distribution activity during this disaster. Our kitchens, cooks, drivers, and all our staff members rose to the occasion, meeting the extra food demand for food, with courage in their hearts and one determination – to get the vessel of Akshaya Patra to supply “unlimited food” to those affected!

If you would like to support Akshaya Patra’s endeavors, please visit our website today.

Global giving made easy!

Ever heard about a world-changing idea that you wanted to support, but didn’t know how to? Thanks to websites such as GlobalGiving, it is easier than ever now!

An open, transparent marketplace, GlobalGiving is a platform that connects ideas and solutions that change the world with people who want to support such initiatives. Offering donors a simple, efficient, and accountable way to give, GlobalGiving helps projects across the world.
Recently we at Akshaya Patra, registered ourselves on this platform. It gives us the opportunity to introduce our cause to a global audience and thus enables people from across the globe to support us. However, adhering to all the mandatory requirements wasn’t enough. To be considered as an eligible charity on this site, we need to raise $4000 from 50 donors, in a month’s time. Difficult it was, with the support of friends like you, we have crossed the amount but you can keep supporting us to win a bonus from global giving.

Therefore, we sincerely request to all friends of Askhaya Patra to help us by spreading the good word and supporting our cause. Please visit our page and donate at:
http://www.globalgiving.com/projects/sponsor-school-meals-of-200-000-children-in-india/

Your contribution will play a significant role is assuring us registration and visibility on this site, which in turn will help us feed more children across India.

Please hurry! Our time ends on September 18, 2009, (11:59 pm EDT). We need your support today!

Dial 1800-425-8622 for more information

When did you last give to charity? More importantly, do you know what happened to the money you sent? And do you know who you can speak to in order to find this out?

It's sad but true, that not all charitable organizations give you accountability of your money and donations. Therefore a donor who is convinced about a cause willingly sends in money to support the charity but loses faith when they are not responded to.

In striking contrast, transparency and donor communication are the cornerstones of Akshaya Patra, and we strive hard to keep all our donors informed on our activities through the year. Not only do we send out regular online and print newsletters, but we also update our website and blog regularly to inform donors of how we are growing and spending their money.

More importnantly, our Toll Free Number is widely available to all our donors, making it easy for you to call and speak to one of our executives in order to obtain information on anything regarding Akshaya Patra. If you want to find our about our specific areas of work, how we make this school meal program available to one million children everyday, how our kitchens work at clockwork efficiency, and so on, dial us today at 1800-425-8622.

Operators are available at this number from 9:30 am to 7:00 pm and will willingly answer all your queries. Individuals wanting to volunteer or donate, as well as corporate house, interested in partnering with us for their Corporate Social Responsibility initiative are welcome to dial in. We're waiting for a call from you!

A birthday party with a difference

Sometimes support comes to us from unexpected quarters and just goes to prove a point - if we do our job well, someone somewhere notices and justice is done! A recent case of support by an NRI well-wisher is a good example of this.

Ms Madhuri Pai from Hong Kong had heard about Akshaya Patra and our work in providing free, unlimited food for education to underprivileged children in India. Touched by our cause and convinced about our work, she wanted to do something to help our efforts. Ms Pai decided to celebrate her child's birthday with a difference and different it was.

Ms Pai asked all the friends attending the birthday lunch not to get a gift, and instead, asked them to donate any amount of their choice to Akshaya Patra. "Rich kids these days have way more than what they need. We felt it was a waste of resources (both money and mother nature's resources) to get another load of toys that our kid may or may not play with," she says. "There is such a terrible imbalance when we compare this to the underprivileged kids who have too less."

With this thought the Pais thought it was a wonderful idea to use the birthday celebration to channel some much-needed funds to the children supported by the school meal program of Akshaya Patra. The guests were indeed surprised at the novel idea and everyone came forward and donated generously. Ms Pai was able to raise Rs 25,000 and was very thrilled that some mothers left the party with the resolve to do the same thing on their child's birthday. Taking a step towards making a difference is certainly one thing, but facilitating the difference others choose to make is indeed commendable. A heartfelt thank-you to Mr and Mrs Pai.

Charity needs no special occasion

Trends show that individual giving peaks every time it’s a loved one’s birthday or anniversary in the family. This type of charity achieves multiple purposes:

1. It makes you feel good, driving home the feeling of having done the good deed for the day on your special day.

2. It goes a long way in establishing your relationship with the organization you give to. In all likelihood, you will give to the same organization the next year too. And especially, if the charity has been diligent in keeping you informed on its activities.

3. It actually helps the organization further its cause.

Recently, we had a beautiful case of giving at Akshaya Patra, which we’d like to share with you. Not only does this episode prove that such giving need not be restricted to family occasions, but it demonstrates that giving transcends all barriers.

Naveen, one of our relationship managers, got a call one morning from a potential donor who stated that there had been a breavement in the family, and they would like to make a donation in the name of the deceased one.

As is often the case, Naveen expected that an aged family member had passed away, and the family would perhaps want to feed a few hundred children on an auspicious date. “I was happy to know that he will be supporting our cause, so I went to his home, prepared to explain our vision, mission, our work, and so on,” says Navin. Of course, he was to receive a big surprise when the donor mentioned that they had recently lost their beloved pet – a cat named ‘Prince’ – and that they would like to make a donation in the name of Prince!

Of course, Naveen being the good relationship manager, accepted the amount and presented the receipt to ‘Late Prince’ for an amount that would feed one child for a year.

As a first, this certainly left us surprised! But not before it had also made us wiser on the fact that giving doesn’t really need a reason or a person to be involved… in fact you can give whenever you feel like and as many times as possible.

Thank you Prince for proving this to us!

Run for fun… and a cause!

On 31st May 2009, the small team of 35 people from Akshaya Patra, was charged with excitement. We were geared for the Majja Run at the Sunfeast World 10K Marathon, being held in Bangalore. Having collected at the Kanteerva Stadium, we were all set for the 5.6 Km run (or brisk walk!) that we were doing to garner support for our cause – unlimited food for education!

With the firing of the gun, our team started running, banner in hand and a smile on our faces. The thrill of running to create awareness for Akshaya Patra was tremendous and we were happy to be speaking about our work and program, to the media and interested individuals. Just like us, various charities had turned up to do their bit and people from all walks of life were running in the spirit of participation.

From the group of 35, 32 of us kept up to our promise to our donors – of running the entire 5.6 Km of the Majja Run; the remaining 3 - Ramaswamy, Williams, and Ravi, did even better – they ran the full 10 Km distance! A big ‘thank you’ to all the people who helped us generate funds from this initiative.

Since the past few years marathons have become a regular activity across the metros in India and each city hosts 2-3 marathons, half-marathons or night-marathons in a year. This is a wonderful opportunity for NGOs like us to tell the people about the work we do and inspire people to come forward to make a collective difference to society. While this time round, we put up a small effort, we would like to magnify this in the forthcoming marathons. We request those of you who would like to run the marathon in your city for Akshaya Patra, to mail us today! Our team of fundraisers will work closely with you to ensure that you are able to make your run more meaningful by asking people to pledge their support for your run. As you run for fun, make it an event to remember – not just for yourself, but for the 1 million children who benefit from your run, when you support for Akshaya Patra!

More for Mysore

It just seems like yesterday, when we began operations in Mysore! Feeding 8,700 children, the first food vans from our Mysore kitchen drove out to 32 schools in January 2005. What a sense of achievement it was – we had covered Mysore and its neighboring areas. Many corporate houses and individuals had come forth and extended support to The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF), in order to meet with this goal.

Today, with the inauguration of another kitchen in Mysore, there is a tremendous sense of déjà vu! Having pushed numbers to 20,000 from our existing kitchen, we have started yet another kitchen in Mysore… once again, it’s celebration time, as the foundation increases its reach to underprivileged children in and around Mysore. And once again, corporates and individuals have extended support generously to make this happen.

The state-of-the-art facility in Mysore leverages innovation and technology to cater to one lakh children. This has given our program an impetus and we have plans of pushing our reach to 30,000 children in the next couple of months. Of course, as some of you know, our program is already operational in 7 states and 17 locations, now feeding free, unlimited schools meals to over 1 million children everyday.

TAPF thanks Shri B.S. Yeddyurappa, Chief Minister of Karnataka, for inaugurating the new kitchen and appreciating our program. Immediately after the inauguration, the Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues also served meals to the school children, giving a fillip to our plans of more for Mysore!