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December 23, 2009

Andover girl raises cash to feed 500 children

By Courtney Casper

When the sun beats down during the summer, most 13-year-olds are off enjoying lemonade or ice cream. Meera Bhan, an eighth-grader at the Pike School, was finding a way to raise money to feed 500 poverty-stricken children in India.

While skimming through an Indian magazine, Meera came across a description of Akshaya Patra, an organization that bases its work off of the belief that no child shall be deprived of an education because of hunger. Its president and CEO is Andover resident Madhu Sridhar.

In India alone, 21 million primary-school-age children are not attending school. Of those who do attend, 40 percent drop out before reaching the fifth grade. Additionally, one-third of malnourished children across the globe are Indian.

Akshaya Patra is the largest organization in the world of its kind, said to feed 1.2 million children daily, with 17 different kitchens throughout India. The kitchens are technologically advanced gravity flow systems that prepare fresh, hot meals in an exceedingly hygienic and cost-effective manner with very little human intervention, according to Sridhar. For a mere $14, a hungry child receives a meal every day for an entire school year, approximately 230 days. The meals are driven from the kitchens around the country to the schools daily, where the children line up and are given one, two, or even three helpings. For some children, this is their only complete meal for the day. For many families, Akshaya Patra's system serves as an incentive for families to allow their children to go to and remain in school, according to Akshaya Patra.

"I was just so inspired," Meera recalls. "By receiving an education every day, these kids have a chance at escaping that entire cycle of poverty. The benefits of attending school are huge."

At the beginning of the summer, Meera sent out a letter to her family and friends asking them to help her make a difference in the lives of other children overseas. But it wasn't just any letter to Meera. She slaved over it.

"I kept asking myself, 'How can I tell people about this organization so they will truly understand its greatness?'"

Through donations and by giving up her entire years' allowance, Meera raised $7,000, the cost of feeding 500 children for an entire year.

Since its establishment, Akshaya Patra has received attention both nationally and globally. Harvard University has conducted a case study on its kitchens, and n more recently, the foundation received the Microsoft-sponsored Tech Award in the category of Education. Sridhar, President and CEO, has stated that Akshaya Patra's new goal is to be feeding five million by the year 2020.

"The main goals of our new U.S. office are to raise awareness, eradicate hunger while simultaneously promoting education, and raise funds for this important cause," Sridhar said.

In celebration of its 1 million mark, Akshaya Patra held a banquet to honor a job well done and welcome the challenge of more to come. By personal invitation from Sridhar, Meera delivered a speech to more than 400 guests on her experience with the organization and her firm belief in the cause. The young student was hardly nervous.

"I just figured I had nothing to lose. Here, $7000 hardly seems to make a difference. But over there, it is all the difference in the world," she said.

Courtney Casper is a student at Andover High School. For more on Akshaya Patra's cause, visit www.foodforeducation.org.

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Andover girl raises cash to feed 500 children
by By Courtney Casper , , Wed Dec 23, 2009, 03:49 PM EST
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