Felicitation at Lions International District 317F Region Meet, 20th Jan 2024
On 20th January 2024, Mr. Anand Kumar Kadali – Trustee and Executive Secretary of Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna Trust, attended the Lions International District 317F Region III Meet as one of the Guest of Honours.
The theme of the event was ‘Relieving Hunger.’ At the gathering, Mr. Anand Kadali spoke about the Morning Nutrition Programme which addresses the issue of ‘hidden hunger.’ What started with just 50 children in the outskirts of Bengaluru in 2012 has now expanded to 30,00,000 government school-going children across 25 states and 4 union territories in India.
He further explained that simple nutrition in the morning sustains for about 2 hours for the child and can bring a lot of changes such as an increase in attendance, motivation in teachers to tutor children with filled, satisfied stomachs, and improvement in their health parameters. He said the Trust’s flagship program, SaiSure Malt and Millet (Ragi) Multi Nutrient Health mix, is designed to address the micronutrient requirements of the growing child. These health mixes are fortified with vitamins and minerals to aid their growth. He pointed out that the improvement in health parameters of these children who have been consuming SaiSure has been significant.
He mentioned that Annapoorna Trust’s 3S principle advocates the role of Sarkāra (Government), Samsthā (Good Institutions), and Samāja (Society and individuals at large) in tackling malnutrition. Support from over 140 corporates, partnerships with various state governments, school teachers and staff, and volunteers have made this programme very impactful.
He shared the challenges that the Trust faced in the journey of Annapoorna so far. During the COVID pandemic, dry ration kits & food were delivered at the doorstep of children and their families. Post pandemic, approvals had to be obtained for launches in new regions & also for relaunching of morning nutrition in places we had already served children prior to pandemic. The district administrator, cluster resource people, and respective HMs of schools had to be given confidence and assurance of the programme. Sharing the experiences and expertise with positive results that Annapoorna had in other regions of the country helped them gain confidence. He also said fear psychosis of anything new, in this case food, among rural diaspora is a very common challenge one had to face. He finally said it was an added responsibility of the Trust to give them confidence.
At the event, Mr. Anand was felicitated by the organising committee. They expressed their admiration and gratitude to him for motivating everybody and sharing his journey through this mega selfless service of serving the needy.
Setting a child on a holistic path with good daily nutrition and the ability to attend and succeed in school is a collective social responsibility and one that will go a long way in nation-building. It is the dream of the Annapoorna Morning Nutrition Programme to build a nation where no child goes to school hungry, EVER!
