Click a Smile to Win Akshaya Patra’s Online Photo Contest

Nothing in this world is as beautiful as a child’s smile. Interestingly, now these innocent smiles can help you win! All you have to do is take part in ‘Click a Smile,’ the online photo contest organized by The Akshaya Patra Foundation and post picture of a smiling child or a group of happy children.

The Akshaya Patra photography contest is open to all those people who have chosen photography either as their profession or as a hobby. Contestants of photo competition 2015 can submit up to three photographs clicked by them. The photographs can be either in colour or in black and white. The photographs should be original, less than 4 MB in size and should have a minimum resolution of 800 pixels.

All the photographs registered for the competition will go through the hands of a panel of judges, who will analyse them according to their content, composition, sensitivity, creativity and style.  The best three photographs will be awarded with a trophy and gift voucher.  The top 50 photographs will be later exhibited for public viewing.

This year, the entries will be judged by Kanick Samuel, who is a Senior Creative Director at J Walter Thompson, Bangalore; Suresh V.B., a professional Photographer and Vicky Roy, a documentary photographer.

The Click a Smile photo competition 2015 is already on and you can send your best shots on or before 22nd December, 2015. 

Click a Smile contest received over 1,500 entries from 50 countries in 2014. So now it’s your turn- open your third eye and capture the best smile in your area.

Gift a Meal this Diwali

Diwali, the festival of lights, marks victory of light over darkness. On this occasion, we decorate our homes, wear new clothes and spend time with our loved ones. The festival, in a way, also highlights the joy of giving.  This is the reason, why we exchange sweets and gifts with our neighbours and friends on Diwali.

When each one of us tries to make Diwali a memorable experience, there are some young children in India who struggle to meet their basic necessities including food and education. The Akshaya Patra Foundation, a leading NGO in India, has been trying to make a change in this picture over the past 15 years.  In fact, the organisation has grown from feeding 1500 children to nearly 15 lakh in 15 years! This year, we have cause for double celebration with both Diwali and the Akshaya Patra 15 year anniversary falling on November 11! 

A major part of Akshaya Patra’s growth and success can be attributed to the support and encouragement the organisation has received from its well-wishers.  Akshaya Patra is now working to fulfil its mission of feeding 5 million school children by 2020.

On the occasion of the Akshaya Patra 15 years anniversary, let us provide opportunities to keep our children free from hunger.  Enjoy the joy of gifting by making festival donations to this worthy cause.

Akshaya Patra uses Technology to Feed Millions

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is the world’s largest Mid-Day Meal Programme. The Foundation was borne out of a desire that children should not have to choose between hunger and education. Therefore from the vision that ‘No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger’ Akshaya Patra was started in the year 2000. Beginning with feeding just 1,500 children across 5 schools in Bengaluru, today the Foundation has grown to feed over 1.4 million children across 24 locations, and 10 states of India.

Akshaya Patra aims to end classroom hunger in India through mid-day meal programme. Leveraging technology to facilitate large scale cooking in a short amount of time, The Akshaya Patra Foundation has served as a case study to prestigious institutes for its operations model. Based on a successful Public-Private Partnership model with the Central and State Governments of India, corporates, donors and other stake holders, the Foundation has managed to scale up and sustain its operations over the past 15 years.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation also uses innovative technology to maintain absolute hygiene and efficiency in its practices. 22 of the 24 kitchens are centralised, and are highly mechanised. This reduces human contact with the food to a large extent, ensuring that the food remains safe and hygienic throughout the cooking process. At Akshaya Patra it is also understood that the food must be enjoyable too, therefore the organisation follows a North and South Indian menu to suit the local palate.

To end child hunger in India, the support from the society plays an important role. Support Us.

Akshaya Patra’s Message on World Food Day

As observed every year, the World Food Day will take place on 16 October. The vital objective is to make people aware about hunger challenges and encourage them to take action.

The theme this year is “Social protection and Agriculture”, defining the role social protection in reducing chronic food insecurity and poverty.  It aims to ensure direct access or the means to buy food.  It is also a practical alternative for stimulating agricultural production and local economy.

Many themes gained prominence each year but the entire focus is to find a way to eradicate hunger altogether. Because, it is a fundamental right to be free from hunger and the right to adequate food. The right to adequate food is realized when every man, woman and child has the access to adequate food or means for its procurement at all times.

Many NGOs and innovative companies are partaking in the attempt to counter hunger by taking responsibility of one of the various initiatives developed by the Government. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is one such NGO that implements the Mid-Day Meal Scheme across 10 states benefiting over 1.4 million children every day. By providing mid-day meal, it aims to bridge the gap of inaccessibility to wholesome meal during the growing years of underserved children. As children have to attend to school to benefit from the mid-day meal, it also incentivises children to read and learn, thereby developing them into self-sustainable citizens of the nation.

Not just government or NGOs, it is the responsibility of each individual to ensure that children who are the future of the nation have access to nutritious food every day. You can start by supporting Akshaya Patra serve millions of children in schools every day.

Fighting Malnutrition Back

It’s indeed sad to know that 42.5 percent of children in India are malnourished, means every second child is underserved. While 11% of the population is over nourished. The number of malnourished children in India is the highest across the world. Does India have less food when compared to the rest of the nations? No

It’s a paradox of abundance and diversity between the rich and poor is huge. The situation is really grave and people need to act fast. Many programmes have been initiated with the same objective of feeding every child of India. The Mid-day meal scheme by The Akshaya Patra Foundation is one amongst them.

The organisation is dedicated to fighting hunger and malnutrition in India. By implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in government schools and government aided schools, Akshaya Patra aims to provide nutritious food to children as well as promote education every day.

Operating kitchens in 24 locations across 10 states in India, It caters to over 1.4 million children every day. The number is huge by all account but it still has a long way to go when India comes into the picture. There are millions of children still underserved and malnourished and without access to proper education. To see an India where classroom hunger is history and every child is well fed, healthy and smart, people intervention is of utmost importance.

The fight cannot be a one organisation’s battle. It has to a coordinated approach with proper support and funding. The programme is of course expanding successfully due to the crucial and fruitful partnership with the Government of India and various State Governments, and support people from every walk of life.

Akshaya Patra believes in eliminating classroom hunger from India and preventing malnutrition from creeping up and affecting children through its tireless effort. But, the reality can only happen when you join the cause and fight together against this social evil.

---

Follow us on:

 Akshaya Patra Facebook

 Akshaya Patra Twitter

 Akshaya Patra Google+

 Akshaya Patra Linkedin

 Akshaya Patra Pinterest