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Akshaya Patra Partners with Google,
indi.com to Raise Hunger Awareness
Seen at Akshaya Patra USA’s “Comedy and Bollyw ood Dance Fest” are (l-r): Rajiv Satyal, Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai, Fran Drescher,
Vandana Tilak, Neel Grover and his w ife. (Sw eet Video & Photography)
Posted: Friday, October 9, 2015 10:30 am
SHYAMAL LEONARD Special to India-West |
0 comments
REDONDO BEACH, Calif. — The AkshayaPatra Foundation, whose social mission hascontinued to provide daily, mid-day meals tomillions of impoverished children in India sinceearly 2000, is advancing its cause to raiseawareness via the launch of its new globalvideo campaign, #FeedingDreamers, inpartnership with Google and indi.com.
Akshaya Patra USA’s Foundation CEO, EmilyRosenbaum, and Los Angeles advisory boardmember Vandana Tilak, accompanied bymaster of ceremonies and Indian Americancomedian Rajiv Satyal, hosted a “Comedy andBollywood Dance Fest” at the Redondo BeachPerforming Arts Center here Oct. 4 to launch
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the campaign.
The show intertwined comedy by PaulVarghese and Maz Jobrani, danceperformances, persuasive speeches andintroduced #FeedingDreamers videos tochampion the goal to feed five million“dreamers” by 2020.
AP USA’s latest thrust into crowd sourcing, aphenomenon that recently drove millions toraise awareness for ALS through an icebucket challenge, will not only bolster “thedreamer in all of us” but also support the“unrealized dreams” of destitute children inIndia, according to Rosenbaum.
Google’s brand marketing evangelist AprajitaJain and CEO Neel Grover of indi.com,sparked by AP USA’s interest in creating a“quick awareness building mechanism,” joinedforces to not only “shine the spotlight” on AP’sdream to end hunger, but to also aggregatedonor involvement and enhance theirconnectivity to the cause through videocontent using an online platform.
Jain kindled vigor by likening hunger to fastingwithout choice in her speech to the audience.“When I fast,” said Jain, “I always think aboutwhat I am going to eat next. There are millionsof children who also fast, but it is withoutchoice, and these children do not know wheretheir next meal is coming from.”
Aimed at a younger audience, it is a way tocreate a short message on video usingcellphones or tablets which can be uploadedto any social media with the hashtag,explained Jain.
“We would like you to share your experiencewith hunger and how you are going to supporthungry children,” she said, adding that it canbe via a pledge, personal or monetary.
Google’s technology will then pick up the#FeedingDreamers postings from “anywhere”on the internet and propel them to indi.com,where videos with the highest vote will beentered in a contest, Jain explained.
Keynote speaker, entrepreneur and “inventorof email” Dr. V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai amplifiedthe call to action by relaying his powerfulconnection to hunger.
“I am a product of the food program, and, as amember of the ‘lower caste,’ the early food programs instituted in India gave rise to my parentsand someone ‘like me,’” he said.
The systems biologist also elaborated on recent gene theories which reveal that apart fromour genetic code and external factors, nutrition in particular can “turn on and turn off” genes.
Ayyadurai is married to actress Fran Drescher, who graced the stage with Satyal earlier in theshow to provide support for AP’s cause.
AP’s to date goals and accomplishments were also elaborated by Rosenbaum and Tilak. Tilak
Akshaya Patra USA’s Foundation CEO Emily Rosenbaum
(center) seen with Aprajita Jain (left) and Vandana Tilak. (Sweet
Video & Photography)
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said with 12 to 60 million child laborers and the consequent 40 percent dropout rate in schools,hunger continues to limit school attendance.
The results, according to Tilak, are in the numbers, as AP’s centralized kitchens within 22Indian cities continue to serve 1.4 million daily meals, which have increased enrollment andreduced drop-out rates.
The mounting growth has also been AP’s biggest challenge, admitted Rosenbaum to India-West. With an estimated need of $1.5 million per year for every 100,000 child meals, sheadded that AP’s need for donor contribution is also on an upswing.
Aside from subsidies from the Indian government, one avenue to sustain expansion, accordingto Rosenbaum, is AP’s stretch into pilot programs such as Akshaya Nidhi, which will embrace“for profit” ventures and sell the “same prepared food for children” to employers and agenciesto fund budgeting needs.
Rosenbaum also cited the recent progress of AP USA and its 12 chapters in continuing theirvision. The momentum of the volunteer base increased from a handful to about a 100 for theL.A. chapter alone. A youth ambassador program was also recently launched and drew over100 high schoolers to raise funds and awareness.
Rosenbaum closed by calling Akshaya Patra the largest NGO program in the world and saidthat regardless of its well-recognized advances, “we are not just sitting on our laurels,” and“we cannot be satisfied as long as there is a child in the world who is going hungry.”
The event began with a VIP “meet and greet” and included performances delivered by comicPaul Varghese, Savithri Arts Academy and Nrityodaya Kathak Academy. Comic headliner andIranian humorist Maz Jobrani closed the show with family-friendly wit which jabbed at culturalclichés faced by most immigrants.
More about Akshaya Patra Foundation
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Akshaya Patra Foundation Releases 'Gyan Ki Roshni' Single
More about Google
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Posted in Global on Friday, October 9, 2015 10:30 am. | Tags: Akshaya Patra Foundation, Google, Indi.com,
Comedy And Bollyw ood Dance Fest
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