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Yuga Dharma
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'Food for Life' program
Contact Us for Details
ISKCON FOOD RELIEF FOUNDATION
NELLORE
Click here to see photos of the project
Hunger- A Barrier in Poor Students' Education
It is true that India has haves and have-nots. Whether India is known as a third world nation or not, it is a known fact that there is great disparity among rich and poor. There is definitely a large percentage of the population who are below the poverty line. A poor family in turn perpetrates a vicious cycle of child malnutrition, deprived education, the problem of child labour and again children are born in that poor family aggravating the situation further.
Government and semi-government agencies have taken some responsibility to address the hunger issue. The issue is so voluminous that it all simply falls short of the demand. ISKCON Food Relief Foundation has charitable objectives with Food Relief as the top priority. It has trained youth with missionary dedication and a service attitude. ISKCON Food Relief Foundation has taken up Midday Meal Program for poor students in Government schools in over 15 places already. Food is prepared in a state of the art Centralized Kitchen, the food is nutritious and hygienically prepared, and therefore the scheme has become very popular around the nation.
As part of the hunger relief operation, we have now taken up Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh for operating the Midday Meal Program. The Government has allotted an abandoned Leprosy Hospital building in Bhaktavatsala Nagar of Nellore. It has to be renovated and remodelled for establishing a Centralized Kitchen facility. A Centralized Kitchen consists of diesel operated boilers and huge steam cooking cauldrons, and for mechanical cooking, many other gadgets and utensils. For delivering the prepared food exactly at one time in literally hundreds of schools before lunch time, there is need for at least 6 carry vehicles which are custom made. To run the entire operation, cooks, watchmen, drivers and other office staff must be prompt and efficient. We want to deliver prompt and nutritious meals to needy children. When children are taken good care of then the future of the nation will be bright and hopeful.
Philanthropic and service oriented generous people can all give us a helping hand and encouragement in a variety of ways. Let us join hands to the make this world a better place for the children and their future. A child strong in body and mind is necessarily dependent on good care in the formative years of their life. It starts with the basic needs, especially nutritious and sumptuous food. This activity is pleasing both to the Lord and the public. The beneficiaries are the children and in turn the entire nation.
ALL THE DONATIONS ARE 100 PER CENT TAX EXEMPTED. PLEASE MAKE YOUR CHEQUE OR DRAFT IN FAVOUR OF ‘ISKCON FOOD RELIEF FOUNDATION'.
Renovation of the allotted building requires all kinds of repair, like sanitary, plumbing, masonry, electrical, painting, tiling, wood and grill works. The estimated cost of the repairs is 10 lakhs of rupees. The building is in a covered area of approx. 20,000 sq. ft.
Central kitchen stainless steel plant with erection charges, which caters up to 25,000 children, has an estimated cost of 18 lakhs and containers for transporting food, 12.5 lakhs with the individual container costing about Rs.1000.
We need vehicles for transporting the food to the schools to be covered, which will have to be at least 6 vehicles, each costing about 6 lakhs (Tata 407 model) totalling Rs.36 lakhs.
So the approximate total project budget will be Rs.76.5 lakhs.
All donors will have tax exemption. For donors giving more than 1lakh their names will be displayed at the plant site, and will be announced in the programs, they will be given honorary life patron membership of ISKCON, and those who sponsor an individual vehicle will have their name on the vehicle.
Above all that the service itself is a highly noble activity bringing joy and the blessings of the Lord. For Details contact: Sukadevaswami@gmail.com (Dr.Sukadeva Swami, mobile: 092155-36589) Locally, Chandrakesava dasa, Mobile: 99481-20655 and Rajasekhara dasa: 99850-58550.
© ISKCON Nellore 2008. This page was last updated on 19-Jan-2009