Akshaya Patra Encourages Government School Kids To Dream Big

Aiming for 100 Scholarships in the coming year

Mumbai: The Akshaya Patra Foundation has embarked on a pilot project ‘Giving Every Dream a Chance’ in the year 2015-2016. Akshaya Patra believes that every child has a dream and each dream is valid and hence intends to provide the right path to the child.The project aims to initiatea sponsorship programme to ensure continued support to 100 children, conduct mentorship programmes to nurture talents and to identify more children with unique dreams across the country.

This unique programme was launched on June 11, 2016at the Vivanta by Taj by Chief Guest, Mrs. Sudha Murty, Chairperson, Infosys Foundation, a benevolent supporter of Akshaya Patra. The event was presided by Shri Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman of The Akshaya Patra Foundation, in the presence of Mohandas Paiwhoalso serves as an independent trustee of the foundation.Sushruthi Krishna, Femina Miss India Supranational 2016, graced the event in support of the initiative.Celebrated Bollywood musician duo of Sona Mohapatra and Ram Sampathpresented thetheme song which was exclusively composed for the initiative.The event was well attended by eminent citizens from all walks of Life.

Akshaya Patra is proud to launch the dreams of its three mid-day meal beneficiaries: Manjula, the debuting actress; Shivu, an aspiring astronomer and Shekar, a chef in the making. Akshaya Patra facilitated them with a two month mentorship programme wherein the children were tutored, groomed and guided by the experts in their respective fields. Manjula was mentored by Dr. Zulfia Shaikh, Founder-Director of Bangalore School of Speech & Drama. Shivu was tutored by Mrs. Preethi Krishnamurthy, a senior research fellow in astrophysics. Shekar’s passion for cooking was nurtured by renowned celebrity Chef Ramasamy Selvaraju, Executive Chef at the Vivanta by Taj.

Shri Madhu Pandit Dasa said, “This initiative is to highlight the link between food and education. Once we provide the nutrition requisite for a child to grow healthy and smart― the vast universe of dreams,ignited by education, opens up new avenues for the child to explore; and nothing becomes out of reach for a well-nourished child.Let’s end classroom hunger- meal by meal and give every dream a chance- child by child.”

Vivanta by Taj, MG Road, supported the initiative as hospitality partner while pledging to continue supporting Shekar till he achieves his dream. The all new Akshaya Patra App was also launched at the event.BigFM 92.7joined hands with Akshaya Patra as official radio partner and Bfirst.com participated as online partner. The event was organised by Eventsource and was also supported by webcast partner, 24Frames Digital.