DESPITE TRAGEDY, AKSHAYA PATRA WITH FAREED ZAKARIA RAISE $380K FOR CHILDREN

Marathon Monday was a horrific day for the city of Boston, but it did not diminish the compassion and generosity of the local community. Despite the tragic events, 300 supporters came out for the Akshaya Patra Foundation’s 6^th Annual Boston Benefit Event. The event raised $380,000 for Akshaya Patra’s unique and innovative school lunch program in India that serves 1.3 million underprivileged children daily.

The event drew community leaders, business executives, and long-time supporters of Akshaya Patra.  Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, delivered a powerful keynote address on terrorism and international development.  He said, “Terrorism depends for its success on the response of the onlooker. If we are not terrorized, then almost by definition it didn’t work”.   He stressed that terrorism is the reaction of individuals disenfranchised by modernity.  Mr. Zakaria alluded to Akshaya Patra’s program, saying that international development that focuses on improving access to opportunities for disenfranchised and underprivileged communities can prevent reliance on reactionary violence. 

Fareed Zakaria has firmly established himself as a respected voice in American foreign policy, international relations, and politics.  He has served as a columnist Newsweek and editor for Newsweek International and as the editor-in-chief for TIME.  Fareed Zakaria has also been a long-time supporter of Akshaya Patra and is on the organization’s Advisory Board. He has described Akshaya Patra’s program model as “a global solution to reverse child hunger trends worldwide”.  

A public-private partnership, Akshaya Patra combines good management, innovative technology and smart engineering to deliver school lunches at a fraction of the cost of similar programs in other parts of the world. The Akshaya Patra Foundation was recently ranked 23^rd of the Top 100 NGOs in the World in The Global Journal’s 2013 annual ranking.  The Global Journal also ranked Askhaya Patra 1^st in world for NGOs working to improve the lives of children and youth.

For more information about this event please contact Krista McCarthy at Krista@apusa.org or (781) 438-3090 Ext 2. 

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