Morning Nutrition launch with Decimal Foundation in Mumbai, 11th March
Annapoorna Trust launched the morning nutrition program with the support of the Decimal Foundation in Mumbai on 11th March 2024. Nearly 1609 children in 9 schools are served with SaiSure Ragi (Millet) Multi Nutrient Health Mix with jaggery for all 6 days a week.
The launch event was held in BMC Marathi School, Lumbini Bagh 4, Mumbai. Mr. Balakrishna Pandre (Principal of the School) and Mr. Jadhav (Accounts officer from the Education Department – Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation) were present at the event.
From the Decimal Foundation, Ms. Neelam Jethwani (Co-Founder and Managing Trustee), Ms. Kavitha (Program Manager), Mr. Carlos (Senior Communication Manager), and Mr. Vaibhav (Community Outreach) were present. Mr. Yogesh Kamath, Manager – CSR Partners & Government Alliances, represented Annapoorna Trust.
Annapoorna Trust has collaborated with Decimal Foundation, which runs a program called The Breakfast Revolution that provides nutrition security to children across many states in India. Annapoorna Trust provides the nutrition product and funding for the program; Decimal Foundation helps in operations, monitors, and helps measure the health parameters for the program.
Prior to the launch, permission from BMC (BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation) was taken, and then the teachers and parents were briefed about the Nutrition Intervention and taken into confidence. Parents were explained about the importance of the health drink and how it provides energy and nutrients for growing children. A sample of the drink was provided to all parents and their children present before the launch of the program. They gave positive feedback about the product and willingly gave their signed consent for the program.
At the launch event, Ms. Neelam Jethwani spoke about how BMC, schools, school staff – the HM and Principals, MDM Kitchen cooks, the distribution network, and others are coming together for the benefit of children and society. She emphasized the nutritional value of the drink and urged the gathering, especially the children, to partake in the drink wholeheartedly. She told the children that instead of consuming Coke, Pepsi, etc, partaking this drink will enable them to be regularly active in their sports and studies.
Ms. Kavitha of the Decimal Foundation began her speech by talking about the presence of the Decimal Foundation in Mumbai. Speaking about the importance of Morning Nutrition, she said that in order to improve in studies, children require good health, and the SaiSure multi-nutrient health drink will aid in gaining good health and good immunity. She pointed out that keeping the welfare of the children in mind, the Decimal Foundation and Annapoorna Trust have come forward to provide Morning Nutrition absolutely free of cost.
Mr. Jadhav, the AO of the ward from BMC, was present as the Chief Guest of the program. He explained to the assembled students that this program is initiated by the organizations and provided absolutely free of cost to the underprivileged sections of society. He assured them that this nutrition program would enable each of them to grow healthy, educate themselves to become good citizens of society, and later take on responsible jobs to earn their livelihood.
The Principal, Mr. Balakrishna Pandhre, told the children to get glasses every day and emphasized the need to maintain hygiene by cleaning the glasses properly and washing their hands before drinking.
Mr. Kiran Nirbhavane, the Proprietor of the MDM Kitchen, spoke about how the health drink has to be prepared by his team and distributed across schools. He reiterated the fact that the organizations have come together for the benefit of society and encouraged the children to consume the SaiSure Millet Multi Nutrient Health drink every day on time without fail.
Mr. Yogesh Kamath mentioned about the presence of Annapoorna Trust in 25 states and 4 union territories serving more than 9 million children in 100,000 schools across India and further went on to explain the importance of Morning Nutrition. Speaking about how it adds value to the mid-day meal scheme, he pointed out that the time gap for children awaiting a proper meal is reduced, thereby increasing focus on studies. He further added that teachers are motivated to tutor such focused students. He described the nutritional value of the SaiSure Millet (Ragi) Multi Nutrient health mix as being tailor-made to combat deficiencies of vitamins, iron, and minerals in children and, hence, provide requisite energy to them for overall physical and mental development.
Every child is served morning nutrition with love and care. When we show such love and care through serving nutrition every morning, it is more than food—it is a powerful message. It is saying, ‘You matter. Your dreams matter.’ Every child deserves a fair chance to shine, and it all begins with Morning Nutrition ensuring no child goes to school hungry, ever!
