The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a leading organization that simultaneously addresses two of the most immediate challenges facing India, hunger/malnutrition and access to education, through its school lunch program. Started modestly in Bangalore feeding 1500 children in 5 schools, Akshaya Patra currently provides freshly prepared nutritious meals to over 1.3 million underprivileged children DAILY in 9 states from 20 kitchens in over 9000 schools in India. For many children this is their only complete meal for the day. This meal 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 and to focus on learning.

Akshaya Patra is one of the world's largest NGO-run midday meal program. It is a public, private, non-profit partnership that 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. Through kitchens specially designed by engineers to leverage technology and sourcing its food stocks from local markets, Akshaya Patra is able to reduce costs associated with transportation and food spoilage while supporting the local economy.

It costs Akshaya Patra $15 to feed a child for an entire year.

In a short time, the foundation has grown to become the largest, and certainly the most innovative, school lunch program in the world. Akshaya Patra is a great example of what can be accomplished when public sector, private sector and the civil society collaborate-- a cost effective, scalable solution with high quality service delivery.

The Foundation core belief is that no child, in India and the world, shall be denied education because of hunger. The next goal of the organization is to feed five million children by 2020. For more information, visit www.foodforeducation.org.

Akshaya Patra is one of the world's largest NGO-run midday meal program. It is a public, private, non-profit partnership that 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. Through kitchens specially designed by engineers to leverage technology and sourcing its food stocks from local markets, Akshaya Patra is able to reduce costs associated with transportation and food spoilage while supporting the local economy.

It costs Akshaya Patra $15 to feed a child for an entire year.

In a short time, the foundation has grown to become the largest, and certainly the most innovative, school lunch program in the world. Akshaya Patra is a great example of what can be accomplished when public sector, private sector and the civil society collaborate-- a cost effective, scalable solution with high quality service delivery.

The Foundation core belief is that no child, in India and the world, shall be denied education because of hunger. The next goal of the organization is to feed five million children by 2020. For more information, visit www.foodforeducation.org.