As per an NGO report, 47% of children under the age of 6 are malnourished. It also states that India ranks below countries like Bangladesh and Nepal on the state of hunger. This tells a lot about India being a developing nation.
ISKCON has taken the initiative to correct this anomaly. Since 1995, ISKCON has with the help of Government aid is providing midday meals to all the municipal and government aided primary schools in and around Mumbai.
Fortunately I came to know about this through my wife. All you need to feed one child a meal for a year is just Rs. 700.00. Imagine the small amount – It is less than what we spend at a restaurant for ONE meal for two at an average Mumbai restaurant and here we had an opportunity to sponsor a child for an entire year in that amount. I decided to contribute and make life easier for these children in whatever little way I could. I called up the Project Manager of ISCKON, Mr. Harish Desai and told him of my interest in the project. Meanwhile Manish had also heard about this program on FM and shared the details with me. He too showed interest in it.
Mr. Harish Desai came to our office and explained about the project and the scope of work being done. He also wanted us to visit the kitchens where the food is hygienically prepared. Just imagine how much we spend on useless things when the same can be better utilised and make India a truly developing nation. What a coincidence that today happens to be Children’s day.
Having donated you also get an opportunity to go there, serve the children and have food with them on a special occasion like your birthday or wedding anniversary. This is truly for a good cause and we would urge all to do your bit for the society at large.
As part of Team Rincon, Manish and I are already donating and Rincon as an organisation is also sponsoring students. I am sure a lot of other team members will also come forward for this noble cause.
Contributed by Kiran Rao