On 7 June 2017, following the corporate launch of ‘Feed the Future Now’ campaign in Delhi, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, in the presence of Mr. Shankar Mahadevan (Composer and Playback Singer), Mr. Vivek Oberoi (Indian Actor), Mr. Sanjeev Kapoor (Celebrity Chef and Entrepreneur) and Ms. Sonali Bendre (Indian Actress), launched the official video of ‘Feed the Future Now’ in Mumbai at PVR, Juhu Dynamix Mall.

Talking to the media about the movement, The Akshaya Patra Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer, Shridhar Venkat said, “We are very thankful to all our partners especially the Government of India who has come together today to raise awareness about the growing need to ensure children are well nourished at the age of 0 – 12 years and join us in our mission to serve 5 billion meals by 2020. Food is not charity. Food is life.” 

Quotes from our partners and well-wishers 

Mr. Shankar Mahadevan who is a goodwill ambassador for Akshaya Patra said, “The Foundation is one of a kind institution in the world and is doing great service for the nation. Malnutrition is one of those issues that require urgent attention. The emphasis should not be on feeding just food but providing a nutritious meal. I implore more friends from the fraternity to join hands with the movement, and help us make our country a Poshit Bharat, Shikshit Bharat (Nourished India, Educated India).”

Sharing his thoughts about the cause with the audience, Mr. Vivek Oberoi said, “I am very excited to be here today. The Akshaya Patra Foundation’s work towards eradicating malnutrition is not only relevant for our country but extremely inspiring. We, as a country has had so many achievements at the global platform but hidden hunger still remains an obstacle to sustaining education and achieving one’s full potential. ‘Feed the Future Now’ aims to combat this issue and I am glad to pledge support to its mission of nourishing the future of India so that kids get a holistic upbringing, just like we all did.”

Ms. Sonali Bendre said, “I am delighted to be a part of ‘Feed the Future Now’ movement and want to congratulate The Akshaya Patra Foundation for taking this initiative. Children are India’s future and one will be surprised that many of our children cannot afford a decent meal owing to poverty.  If all of us get together and take responsibility for feeding a child per year, they will not have to drop-out of school because of a hungry stomach.  We would have contributed to nation-building in our own little way.”

Mr. Sanjeev Kapoor said, “I am happy to associate with The Akshaya Patra Foundation yet again on the launch of their seminal movement ‘Feed the Future Now’ after a successful Boston Benefit Gala fundraiser held in California in May this year. Akshaya Patra is all about giving nutritious food to children. My own journey of cooking food for my family and friends and presenting it to millions of viewers on television is in absolute sync with the Foundation’s idea – the joy of giving is much more than the joy of receiving. We, especially our strong chef community across the globe, must all strive to make nutrition our agenda to make ‘Feed the Future Now’ a mass movement and commit to the cause wholeheartedly. 

Facilitating screening of the video across 100 outlets nationally, Ms. Deepa Menon, Senior Vice-President (Corporate Communications & CSR), PVR Ltd. said, “Nutrition and development are interlinked. Therefore, being a socially sensitive organisation, PVR is supporting ‘Feed the Future Now’ initiative through the use of its physical infrastructure. The initiative is also in sync with the ethos of PVR Nest which concentrates its efforts towards mainstreaming underprivileged children and restoring confidence among them by investing on education, health and nutrition, skill development, and employability through our ‘Childscapes’ programme.”

Mr. Damodar Mall, Chief Executive Officer, Reliance Fresh said, “We are pleased to be ground partners for the ‘Feed the Future Now’ initiative with The Akshaya Patra Foundation. In our stores and on our communication platforms, we will take the message of this movement to millions of our customers. Jointly with our customers, we are happy to help ensure hunger does not come in the way of good education!”

Mr. Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18 said, “According to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics 2016 report, every year 47 million Indian children drop out of schools by the time they reach 10th Standard. There has been a direct correlation between dropping out of schools and classroom hunger. At Viacom18, we believe that education is the key to unlock India’s true potential and it is the future generation that needs to be equipped and nurtured today. We hope to multiply the impact of this cause with the video our team has created at Viacom18. We are delighted to partner with The Akshaya Patra Foundation for the ‘Feed the Future Now’ movement.”