NEW DELHI: Non-profit body The Akshaya Patra Foundation on Monday said it has already served over 2 crore meals to vulnerable communities like migrant workers and homeless people affected due to the lockdown imposed to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.
As on April 17, the Foundation has cumulatively served 2,19,44,385 meals which include 93,57,839 freshly cooked meals and 3,02,541 food relief kits (1,25,86,546 meal servings) to people in need in various locations across India, an official statement said.
The relief feeding endeavour has been initiated in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Delhi and NCR, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
"We have been able to serve over 2 crore meals to people in need during these difficult times due to the collaborative efforts of everyone involved," The Akshaya Patra Foundation Chairman Madhu Pandi Dasa said and thanked everyone for the donation.
"I sincerely hope that the situation will improve soon and people will be able to get back to their day-to-day life. Until then, we will continue our efforts to serve as many people as possible," he added.
The Foundation said it is using its kitchen network to prepare the meals and deliver them to the centres assigned by the authorities.
Simultaneously, packaging centres have been set up in various locations across the country where food relief kits are packed with essential groceries based on the local palate.
The kits to be distributed in Bangalore, for instance, contain rice, tur dal, oil, spices, sambar and rasam powder, and vegetables which are known to have a long shelf-life, such as potatoes and pumpkins.
Each kit has groceries sufficient for either 42 or 28 meals, it said. In this endeavour, the Foundation said it has been supported by proactive corporate partners and individual donors.
For instance, Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy and his family contributed Rs 10 crore from their personal funds toward Akshaya Patra's COVID-19 relief work.
Their generous donation has enabled the Foundation to distribute 1.33 lakh food relief kits, which are equivalent to 55,86,000 meals, it said.
Several corporate houses, such as the Biocon Foundation, Capgemini, CISCO, Coca-Cola, CLP, Deutsche Bank, DLF Foundation, Goldman Sachs, Gland Pharmaceuticals, HT Parekh Foundation, Hero Moto Corp, Infosys Foundation, LG Electronics, Morgan Stanley, Nestle India, PepsiCo Foundation, Sarojini Trust, Texas Instruments, Vedanta, Vivo, Walmart and many others, have come forward to contribute to the relief feeding endeavour.
The Foundation further said it has also received in-kind support for the endeavour with General Mills (Mumbai) donating cookies and cakes for distribution in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Noida, Britannia donating around 20,000 packs of 'Good Day' biscuits to be distributed in Bangalore, and Epigamia donating 17,000 premium yoghurt cups for distribution in Bangalore and Ahmedabad.
Similarly, Bollywood personalities, such as Hrithik Roshan and Raveena Tandon, have also donated to the Foundation's efforts.
Also supporting the Foundation are motivated volunteers who have selflessly come forward at this hour of need.
These include volunteering groups, such as Inspiring Indians and Corona Warriors, as well as corporate volunteers from organisations such as the Infosys Foundation and Biocon.