Monday, 17 October 2022
Monday, 10 October 2022
Experience the Joy of Giving this Daan Utsav
Atithi Devo Bhava is a practice in Indian society where a guest is treated with the utmost respect. The hosts provide them with the best experience while they spend time with each other, by offering them food, clothes, etc. It is a form of social service that has existed since ancient times. Giving is considered to be auspicious and people are also aware of the bliss that comes with being helpful to others’ needs.
To continue the age-old tradition of giving to the underprivileged or people who need some form of help, Daan Utsav is observed from 2-8 October every year. This week has been celebrated since the time it was first started in 2009 and was called the Joy of Giving week. It is a perfect time to fill someone’s life with loads of happiness and get content in return for doing good for the underprivileged. It is a week of enthusiasm where people from all walks of life come together for a single cause – GIVING.
Daan Utsav is celebrated in many places across India like Bhuj, Sancoale, Aluva, Mysuru, Imphal, Jammu and Sukma.
What Daan Utsav for different people
Individuals, corporates, the Government, non-profit organisations, institutions, volunteers, communities and the general public. To raise awareness about this week, celebrities also join hands with one or the other NGO in India and take out time to play, dance and sing with people from challenging backgrounds during press releases, inaugurations, book launches, school annual functions, association parties, etc.
No matter who it is, life is all about giving and even domestic workers, street vendors and washerwomen give when they have or receive. Nobody wants to get left behind, everyone wants to receive the endless joy of giving. So is the case with school children too. Donation campaigns are conducted in schools where they bring old books, stationeries, etc.
There is no better time to turn your kindness into actions of donating resources, money, time, food or time or skills to the have-nots, than this festival of philanthropy!
Donate to NGOs on Daan Utsav
During Daan Utsav, NGOs conduct collection camps, on various events that:
- organise therapies for children with special needs
- train youth to get skill-based jobs
- raise funds to train unemployed people
- feed the
hungry and malnourished people
- bring various opportunities in all fields to marginalised communities.
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a trusted NGO in India that has been serving nutritious meals to school children coming from low-income sections for the last 21 years. What started off with a kitchen that fed 1,500 children in Bengaluru, is now 65 kitchens strong that feeds close to 2 million children every day. Apart from its flagship programme that will feed the hungry school children in Government schools, it also takes care of the nutrition of pregnant and lactating mothers as nutrition is of utmost importance during the early years of child development.
Apart from running the Anganwadi Programme, the Foundation runs other programmes that you can support this Daan Utsav.
PM Poshan
Abhiyaan
To eliminate classroom hunger, help children focus and cater to their
nutritional requirements, Akshaya Patra implements the school feeding programme
under the Pradhan
Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN Abhiyaan, formerly known as the Mid-Day
Meal Programme).
Anganwadi Feeding Programme
Akshaya Patra provides adequate nutrition to nursing and would-be mothers so that they and their children are well nourished right during the early days of life. Under this programme, children under the age group of 6 years get daily nourishment in the form of meals.
Homeless
Mothers Feeding Programme
Homeless mothers are wives or mothers who have lost their husbands and are not living with their families; they are either abandoned by their first circle or by their children and do not have a place to live. Akshaya Patra’s Homeless Mothers Feeding Programme provides meals to these women who are trying to make ends meet. The programme is currently active in Vrindavan.
Breakfast
Programme
The Indian Medical Association and the Indian Academy of Pediatrics have advocated for a free breakfast programme where students will be provided with a healthy breakfast each school day. Akshaya Patra’s pilot Breakfast Programme was initiated in Hosur, Tamil Nadu in 2017. The breakfast offered in school acts as an incentive for children to enrol and attend regularly.
Your
contribution matters
Become a part of Akshaya Patra’s donor family by choosing to support a programme of your choice. Donate online to make a difference in the lives of people in need.
This Daan Utsav, pull someone out of distress.
Set an example with your generosity.
Lift the lives of underprivileged people.
Thursday, 6 October 2022
Tuesday, 27 September 2022
Reducing Child Malnutrition with healthy meals
Malnourishment is a silent killer that does not spare even the lives of little children. It is one of the major causes of death of children under the age of five.
Malnutrition is the cause of death of close to half the children in Asia and Africa below five years.
Insufficient nutrition increases susceptibility to various infections and leads to delayed recovery. Three important factors that estimate malnourishment are stunting (low height with respect to age), wasting (low weight for height) and underweight (low weight for age).
Malnourishment in childhood reduces the quality of
adulthood
The first 1000 days of a
child’s life decide if the child is more likely to be healthy or suffer from
malnutrition. This means to say that, poor nutrition of a mother during her
pregnancy could lead to a stunted childhood. These stunted children tend to be
shorter and weaker. They often have impaired mental development and also tend
to perform low in school making them more likely to take up low-payment jobs.
Hence, they are unable to provide for their children.
Thus it is imperative to work towards nourishing the present generation of children so that they can contribute directly to the health of the next one.
According to the World Bank, close to 1/3rd of stunted children (below 5 years), live in India.
PM POSHAN Abhiyaan (earlier
known as the MidDay Meal Scheme) is one intervention that could reduce
these numbers drastically.
Let us take the example of person ‘X’ from a
low-income family. He is a daily-wage worker whose salary or savings is not
enough to take care of his wife and children. To become a helping hand to the
family’s financial situation, he sends his child to work so that he can get
some more money for the family’s food. He does not give a choice to his child
to choose.
Now, let’s think of another situation where ‘Y’ is a
daily-wage worker who is struggling to make ends meet to feed his family of
three (along with his wife and child). They are aware of the Government’s MDM
scheme and send their child to a nearby Government school with the thought that
at least the child will be able to enjoy one proper, wholesome meal once a day.
By doing so, they are playing a major role in the child’s education too. These
school meals become a reason for the child to attend school without missing
even a single day.
This is the power of school
meals.
Midday meals (MDM) served as a part of this programme not only give an incentive for parents to send their children to school but also become a reason for children to get educated for the long term.
Providing nutrition; food for children
Mid-day meals become a source
of nutrition in children. They help in their physical and cognitive
development. How?
Here’s how:
- School meals take
care of all the essential nutritional requirements of a child. It helps the
child develop in a healthy manner. These meals provided as a part of the PM POSHAN
Abhiyaan, take care of carbohydrates, essential fats, proteins, fortified
salt, etc.
- Meals nourish
children inside-out, providing them with the right energy to expend it by
participating in various sports and co-curricular activities. A well-nourished
child can play well when compared to a malnourished child.
- It reduces risk the
of diseases providing good immunity. Meals prevent diseases like anaemia,
partial blindness and give them the strength to fight common diseases like
cold, flu, etc.
- Free school meals give them access to education. When children start coming to school on a regular basis, they also get tuned to receiving education on a daily basis.
NGOs play a major role in the implementation the of provision of mid-day meals. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is one such organisation that helps children from low-income sections gain the above benefits. It has been serving school meals since 2000 and has grown from feeding 1,500 children to close to 2 million children every day.
Donate online to such NGOs that play an important role to nourish
children. You never know how your help could transform the lives of either
children or their families or a community on the whole.
Extend your support in whichever way possible. Because no support is small help, it has the potential to change lives.
Friday, 23 September 2022
Kitchen With A Heart- Vasanthapura, Bengaluru
This film explores the other facets of an Akshaya Patra kitchen besides brick, mortar and steel. It explores hope, compassion, service and the lives connected to the kitchen, as part of a community.
Akshaya Patra Kitchen | Bhuj, Gujarat
The film is about the Akshaya Patra kitchen in Bhuj, Gujarat. Currently, Bhuj kitchen serves hot, nutritious, safe and tasty mid-day meal to 23,500 children every day in 177 schools across the Bhuj region.
A Story of Transformation | Geetha L Olekar
This film is a glimpse into the life of Geetha L Olekar, an associate implementation engineer working at Q2 Software. Geetha was a beneficiary of the mid-day meal programme, implemented by The Akshaya Patra Foundation, during her school days. She also received scholarships facilitated by Akshaya Patra. The scholarships helped Geetha complete her higher studies.
