Akshaya Patra (Aak-sh-ayah pa-tra) is the world’s largest NGO school meal program, providing hot, nutritious lunches to over 2 million children in 20,000 schools across India every day. Akshaya Patra USA is a nonprofit organization in the USA that engages thousands of volunteers and donors in the United States to raise funds and awareness to support the foundation’s mission Akshaya Patra USA has nationwide Chapters in the USA, and the Chapters have been working hard to spread awareness for the foundation and raise funds to help feed more children in India.

1. Across
20,000+
Schools
Feeding
Over 2 Million
Children
65 Kitchens
63 Centralized
2 Decentralized
14 States
2 Union Territories
www.AkshayaPatraUSA.org

2. WHO WE ARE & HOW WE STARTED
Akshaya
Patra Foundation
In 2000, the Government of India launched the Midday Meal program to
tackle the enormous task of feeding 120 million children.
22 years ago the Akshaya Patra Foundation became a proud partner of the
Government of India implementing the Mid-Day Meal Program in
government and government-aided schools across 14 States and 2 Union
Territories in India, serving 2 million children a day hot nutritious meals.
Essentially, we aim to counter malnutrition while supporting the right to
education for socio-economically disadvantaged children. This is done
through an array of initiatives built around nutrition and education.
THE MIDDAY MEAL PROGRAM
Every midday meal serves as an incentive for children to attend school and
for parents to send their children to school. This, in turn, results in an
improved enrollment rate, regular attendance, enhanced academic
performance, and nutritional profile of students, while reducing the dropout
rate.
2 Million children every day
65 Kitchens in 14 States and 2 UTs
20,000 + schools served
www.AkshayaPatraUSA.org

3. OUR KITCHENS
To reach out to children across the country, including the
remotest corners, Akshaya Patra operates two formats of
kitchen infrastructure: the Centralized model & the
Decentralized model.
Centralized kitchens are highly mechanized units, with
state-of-the-art technology to enable the preparation of
10,000 - 250,000 meals in just under six hours. Akshaya Patra’s centralized kitchen facilities are designed
and engineered to ensure maximum quality and minimize cost, time, and labor, largely using gravity's
potential energy for the cooking process. To retain nutrients, steam is used as a source of cooking which is
not only cost-effective but also clean.
Decentralized kitchens, on the other hand, are set up within the school premises and operated by women
Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under the guidance and supervision of Akshaya Patra.
Every meal is created to meet the dietary requirements of children, and also to satisfy the local palate. For
example, roti-based menus are served in North India, whereas rice-based menus feature in the South. A
number of our facilities are consistently audited and receive ISO Accreditation.
www.AkshayaPatraUSA.org
Akshaya Patra
Kitchens
DISTRIBUTION VEHICLES
Pan India, our kitchens are currently home to over 800+ vehicles,
with each covering one route a day. These delivery vans
(Mahindra, Tata, and Isuzu) are customized with insulated bodies
and honeycomb-constructed racks to carry containers, ensuring
that food reaches schools hot and fresh, with no spillage during
transportation.
To support the phasing out of fossil fuels, we are working to
enhance our fleet with Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Compressed
Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles.

4. Kitchen
Innovation
www.AkshayaPatraUSA.org
BIOGAS PLANTS
• Converts organic waste into energy
• Reduces dependency on liquefied petroleum gas
• Produces organic manure and sustainable alternative
to chemical fertilizers
SOLAR PLANTS
• Some kitchens use photovoltaic (PV) cells to directly
convert sunlight to electricity
BIOMASS BRIQUETTE
• Conserves non-renewable resources by substituting the
use of coal and charcoal with biomass briquette to generate
energy
TREATMENT PLANTS
• Reduces pollution by treating, disposing, and recycling
kitchen waste at our sewage treatment plants
RED BEED PLANTS
• Reduces water pollution
• Makes water reusable by naturally filtering wastewater,
making it suitable for several purposes such as irrigation and
external kitchen cleaning

5. ANGANWADI PROGRAM
In parallel to the Mid-Day Meal Program, we serve pregnant and lactating
women and toddlers in Anganwadi Centres. This initiative is a cornerstone of
Akshaya Patra’s efforts to curb malnutrition in children in the long term, by
ensuring the women have nutritious diets, especially through the maternal
period, which is fundamental for the survival and well-being of them and their
children. For babies and toddlers, the nutrition received acts as a foundation for
future development and learning.
BREAKFAST PROGRAM
Begun as a pilot in 2017, our Breakfast Programme provides a nutritious meal
to students, as a significant number of children, come to school every morning
without having eaten since the previous afternoon or evening. Studies have
shown that a nutritious morning meal results in better academic performance,
as well as lower levels of absenteeism.
www.AkshayaPatraUSA.org
Our Other
Programs
BEYOND THE MEALS
This program enables the higher education
aspirations of meritorious and
underprivileged students.
DIGITAL EDUCATION
PROGRAM
Meritorious students receive a tablet pre-
installed with BYJU’s learning app and internet
connection for two years.
Addresses infrastructure, educational, and
sustainability challenges faced at
individual school level.
SCHOOL REJUVENATION
PROGRAM
AVSAR SCHOLARSHIP
PROGRAM
Initiatives going beyond the meals, under the
umbrella of the National Endeavour for Student
Transformation (NEST), aim to extend the Circle
of Care from the Mid-Day Meal Program.
These initiatives are structured to focus on the
holistic development of students, by giving them
the tools to progress past secondary education.

6. AKSHAYAPATRAUSA.ORG
The Akshaya Patra Foundation espouses a culture of constant improvement and learning. We
measure our program's success on the number of children fed, weight gain, improved performance
in academics and sports, increase in school enrollment, retention, attendance, and increased social
equity.
Our
Impact
www.AkshayaPatraUSA.org
Improved
Retention and
Enrollment
Increased School
Attendance,
especially in girls
Lower Dropout
Rates
Strengthened
Social
Development
Studies from Harvard Business School Study and Nielsen
Serves as an incentive for children to come to school, thus resulting in a positive impact on enrolment,
attendance, and retention rates in schools; every child brought to the classroom is one child kept away
from the murky world of child labor, drug addiction, etc.
Boosts the cognitive development of children and helps them perform in academics, sports, and various
other aspects of life
Gives them an opportunity to beat the vicious cycle of poverty [SDG 1- No poverty]
Enables them to focus on academics and extracurricular activities at school [SDG 2- Zero Hunger and SDG
4- Quality Education]
Contributes to gender parity [SDG 5: Gender Equality] by incentivizing education and giving parents a
strong reason to send their girl child to school
Retains girls in the education system, thus empowering them and reducing certain social evils, such as
early marriage, etc.
Promotes socialization [SDG 10- Reduced Inequalities] with children regardless of their caste, creed, and
economic background sitting together to eat food
Investing in child nutrition and education is one of the most effective entry points for human development.
Through the school feeding program, Akshaya Patra is able to invest in human development at various
levels. The program:

7. www.AkshayaPatraUSA.org
Youth
Ambassadors
Addresses infrastructure, educational, and
sustainability challenges faced at
individual school level.
Akshaya Patra seeks motivated and socially conscious young people to make this world a better place! If you are a 10 –
25-year-old student living anywhere in the United States, our Youth Ambassador program is open to you!
Our Youth Ambassadors are part of a dynamic and elite group of people, determined to make a difference in this world.
They are motivated, driven, young people who are the voices of the millions of children in India.
Plan and organize awareness and
fundraising events.
Set an age appropriate goal of raising
monthly subscriptions for $20 per month for
a year. $20 feeds a child for an entire
academic year!
Write an essay or blog connected with your
work as a YA or about Akshaya Patra. We
will select and publish a new essay on our
website each month.
Run an online campaign for your birthday
where friends and family can donate to
Akshaya Patra instead of giving you a
physical item.
Take part in campaigns and promote them
within your social circles via social media.
Participate in YA activities organized by
Akshaya Patra.
Benefits
References and recommendations for college,
internships, and job opportunities.
Community service hours for school and
extracurricular programs.
Recognition on our website, social media, and
newsletters.
Develop leadership skills.
Mentorship possibilities in areas of business, arts,
science, and social and cultural self-improvement.
Recognition & opportunity to speak and represent
Akshaya Patra at public events.
Visit an Akshaya Patra kitchen & school in India.
Appointment to the Youth Ambassador Council
Program.
.
What do Youth Ambassadors do?

8. By taking action, you enable us to successfully provide hungry children across the
country access to quality nutrition and education. You give them a chance for a
brighter future. From spreading awareness in your town to donating your time or
money, there are many ways to help.
CONTRIBUTE
and sponsor meals for children.
SPONSOR
upcoming kitchens and kitchen
or delivery equipment.
VISIT
a kitchen and/or school.
AMAZON SMILE
add The Akshaya Patra Foundation
USA as your preferred charity.
VOLUNTEER
in the US for event planning,
marketing and sales expertise,
speaker engagement, etc.
EMPLOYEE MATCH
include Akshaya Patra in your
company's employee matching
program.
SOCIAL MEDIA
like our social media pages and
share updates and newsletters.
YOUTH AMBASSADORS
invite your children to join the
Youth Ambassador program
and encourage them to give back.
ONLINE CAMPAIGNS
start a targeted campaign and the
money you raise will help support
Akshaya Patra.
REFER US
to your friends, family, and
community networks.
www.AkshayaPatraUSA.org
Ways to
Help