Akshaya Patra Houston Hosts Informative Dinner
Sanjeev Yamdagni (left), Samrat Bera, Navin Goel, Ashok Shah and Ankita Narula
HOUSTON: Akshaya Patra Houston Chapter hosted an informative dinner on Friday February 4, 2022. Navin Goel Chief Executive Officer and Ankita Narula Vice President of Development of Akshaya Patra USA were present. Ankita Narula Introduced Navin Goel as well as Houston Chair Ashok Shah, Samrat Bera and Sanjeev Yamdagni. Navin Goel and Ankita Narula gave lots of good information about Akshaya Patra and answered many questions. About 25-30 people attended the event at local Indian Restaurant.
Akshaya Patra is a non- profit Organization who feeds millions of school children in India for more than 20 years. Many children from the poor families are deprived of education as the children are pushed towards taking up menial jobs to try and support the family. The main mission of Akshaya Patra is to ensure that these kids come to school for the mid-day meal (sometimes the only meal the kids get to have in a day), attend school learn and become better citizens of tomorrow. The mid-day meal is the incentive for the parents to send their children to school and for the children to be able to focus on their studies. Currently 1.8 million children are being fed and are learning due to the mid-day meal program. Their goal is to feed at least 5 million school children everyday by 2025.
Akshaya Patra operates in almost all States in India with their kitchens located strategically in various States. They served hot lunches to several school children from each kitchen. Each kitchen and the supply chain around getting the fresh food cooked daily and getting it to the school is exemplary and the quality is top notch
The Houston chapter kickoff 2022 year with ambitious plan to hold possibly 3 events to raise funds to feed school children in India. Several youths attended the event and they will involve more youngsters from the Houston metropolitan area. They would be reaching out to you all so that you can devote some time and efforts to support this noble cause and for a better future
How far does your dollar go? An interesting fact: $20 feeds a child back in India for an entire school year. Akshaya Patra have served more than 200 million covid meals and still continuing.