The Akshaya Patra Foundation, an organization with the vision that no
child shall be deprived of education because of hunger, will host their
annual Food for Education benefit event on September 8, 2012 at the
Richardson Civic Center, Richardson, TX. Currently, Akshaya Patra’s
program feeds freshly prepared, healthy meals to over 1.3 million
children daily in over 9,000 schools through 21 kitchens in ten states
in India. For many children this is their only complete meal for the day
and serves as an incentive for them to come to school, stay in school
and gain the necessary nutrients to focus on learning.
The benefit event will raise awareness and funds for Akshaya Patra’s
unique and innovative program for fighting hunger and promoting
education simultaneously and will be hosted by the Dallas Chapter led by
Chapter Chairs, Radha Mookerjee and Guna Raj. Attendees of the event
will include key community leaders, business executives and eminent
change agents committed to unlocking these children from the vicious and
perpetual cycle of poverty and determined to closing the gap between
the haves and the have-nots.
Sudha Murthy, Social Activist and Author, Chairperson of the Infosys
Foundation and Member of the Public Healthcare Initiative of the Gates
Foundation will keynote the evening. Sudha Murthy has been a strong
supporter of Akshaya Patra from its inception. She’s a known
philanthropist with her work through the Infosys Foundation and has
initiated a move to provide all government schools in Karnataka with
computer and library facilities. She also teaches computer science and
has written several fictional books such as Dollar Bahu, Mahashweta, and Wise & Otherwise.
“The Dallas community has always been very generous and supportive of
ensuring that hunger is not a barrier to education for these deserving
Akshaya Patra children. This year in addition to celebrating Akshaya
Patra’s pioneering efforts and dramatic results, it is an opportunity
for Dallas community to honor and celebrate Sudha’s illustrious
journey”, said Madhu Sridhar, President and CEO of Akshaya Patra USA.
The Akshaya Patra Foundation is one of the world’s largest NGO-run
midday meal programs. 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. It costs Akshaya Patra only $15 to feed a
child for an entire year. After reaching its initial goal of feeding one
million children each school day, Akshaya Patra’s next milestone is to
serve 5 million children daily by 2020.
To purchase tickets for the benefit event or to learn more about Akshaya Patra, visit www.foodforeducation.org.
For more information, call Piyali Dutta at 781-438-3090 ext. 5 or email Piyali@apusa.org.
