Thejo Tattala

Akshaya Patra is a nonprofit organization dedicated to feeding impoverished children in India and supporting their education through the food for education incentive. Akshaya Patra’s kitchens are currently feeding over 2 million children across more than 20000 schools. My name is Thejo Tattala, and I initially found out about Akshaya Patra in 2020 through the impact they were making in the community. As I researched, I learned about their projects, like the sapling drive, diya project, and summer camps. I was extremely inspired by the passion, commitment, and dedication exhibited by the Akshaya Patra team, and I wanted to join in the effort.

When I joined in 2020, I had a goal in mind to help the team raise $3000 before I graduated high school. However, as a group, we have raised over $10000 from all our projects. I have participated in several of the Akshaya Patra team’s unique and creative fundraising events. I was able to help my team raise $6000 through the sapling drive project, where we potted plants for the sapling drive and conducted a weekend sale. I also helped the San Diego Chapter raise $4000 in the Diwali project, where we painted diyas for Diwali.

My most memorable projects are the Hindu Mythology Camp and the CAD Camp. I was able to combine my love for volunteering in Akshaya Patra and my love for hindu mythology and art by teaching students mythological stories and 3-D Design, which collectively raised over $1000. I created colorful slides, jeopardy games, and kahoot quizzes for Hindu Mythology Camp. I also created 3-D modules, group projects, and showcases for CAD Camp. The students were engaged and began to actively participate in discussions. They built projects, asked for feedback, and showed their work to their parents. The impact that these camps had on the students’ knowledge and their appreciation for Akshaya Patra touched my heart. It showed me that Akshaya Patra had an international impact that served so many people in so many ways.

I’m happy I met my initial goal of raising a collective amount of $3000, and I hope to help my team raise much more. I hope to continue to serve Akshaya Patra and combine my passion for serving the community with creativity. I hope to help Akshaya Patra reach its goal to feed 5 million children each day by 2025.