19th February,2024: An American based charity organization Share Our Strength, which is expanding its international support to The Akshaya Patra Foundation and The Breakfast Revolution in India, with the intent of working together to build more avenues to nourish children in schools. Share Our Strength announced today that they will host an exclusive fundraiser on March 17th at the ITC Grand Central in Parel, Mumbai in order to aid of the two Indian charities. The dinner event aims to raise INR 1 crore to provide daily breakfasts and lunches for over 10,000 underprivileged school children for the upcoming academic year. Share Our Strength has also committed to match all donations from the event, thereby doubling the impact.
As India prepares for a $5 trillion economy in the next three years, and more thereafter, it is important to ensure that our upcoming generations can shoulder this high growth. The key to fuelling these aspirations lies in nourishing more of our children with proper nutrition and education. Numerous studies affirm the critical role of daily breakfast and lunch meals in school to improve the cognitive development and learning ability of students.
“Since 2014, we have made steady progress in serving healthy breakfasts to thousands of underprivileged school children. But there is more work to be done. Having served about 400,000 undernourished children and women with about 30.2 million meals, we envision to impact 1 million lives by 2030. This fundraiser is our humble effort towards helping more children, not only to address undernutrition but also act as an incentive to increase school participation rates,” said Pankaj Jethwani, Co-Founder, The Breakfast Revolution.
“We are honoured to collaborate with fellow organizations that share our belief that the path out of poverty starts with proper nutrition. We believe every child deserves a chance to learn on a full stomach. Together, we can ensure thousands more children receive the food they need to thrive,” said Shridhar Venkat, CEO, Akshaya Patra.
“At Share Our Strength, we understand very well how hunger impedes human potential. We believe in the work of The Breakfast Revolution and Akshaya Patra and will match funds raised at this event. Our goal is to build the capacities of both organisations, and add an additional 1 million children to receive school meals over the next 5 years,” said Debbie Shore, Co-founder, Share Our Strength.
The invite-only fundraiser promises to be a landmark event and is chaired by Avani Davda (distinguished business leader and advisor) and Gauri Devidayal (Co-Founder and Director of The Food Matters Group). The leadership teams of all three charities will be present alongside multiple luminaries from across India and other countries.
“I have seen firsthand the monumental impact organizations like Akshaya Patra have had through their nutrition programs. This fundraiser is an opportunity to multiply that impact for thousands more children by joining hands with The Breakfast Revolution and Share Our Strength”, said Chef Sanjeev Kapoor. He further added, “Meals in school help children reach their full potential. By coming together, we can nourish millions of children towards a brighter future.” Several acclaimed chefs such as Manish Mehrotra, Asma Khan, and Anil Rohira will join Kapoor in curating an exceptional culinary experience in support of this noble cause. Funds raised will deliver on a joint commitment to make a lasting difference in society by addressing critical issues like food security, undernutrition, increased school attendance and reduced dropout rates amongst impoverished children.