Mastercard and The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF) Announce Collaboration to Provide 4.5 Million Meals to School Children in India

Mid-day meals will be provided in over 300 schools across Vadodara, Hyderabad, Bhavnagar and Lucknow.

As part of its global endeavor to reverse the hunger cycle, Mastercard today announced its partnership with The Akshaya Patra Foundation, a Public Private Partnership implementing the world’s largest NGO run school meal program[1], to ensure sustained access to nutritious meals for children. Through this joint initiative, Mastercard will support 4.5 million meals across Vadodara, Hyderabad, Bhavnagar and Lucknow. The meals prepared at the Foundation’s centralized kitchens will be served in over 300 schools that see an average attendance of more than 50,000 children every day.

Mr. Sundeep Talwar, CMO, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, said, “We are delighted to partner with Mastercard and thank them for their support in ensuring access to nutrition and education for deserving children in the schools. The association will certainly help us nourish the dreams of a better future for thousands of children across the four cities and to attain our mission to fight classroom hunger and facilitate better learning experience.”

Mr. Deepak Mahbubani, Executive Vice President, Global Tech Hubs, ‎Mastercard added, “Doing well by doing good is our common responsibility, and we are committed to supporting India’s children with daily school meals. More than just fuel for the day, these school meals provide a powerful incentive to keep children in the classroom and lower dropout rates. We deeply value our collaboration with The Akshaya Patra Foundation as we seek to create brighter futures for young minds.”

Mastercard has been running the Priceless Causes® program for the last few years globally. It is a great example of how we’re focused on uniting people around social initiatives to meaningfully impact a cause that is personal for so many of us. For the past five years, Mastercard has been working with World Food Programme (WFP) to end world hunger by raising funds through card based micro donations for people in desperate need, in order to enable and empower them to create sustainable food systems and break out of the cycle of poverty.  Mastercard and its partners have helped raise funds to provide over 17 million school meals to children around the world.

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About Mastercard

Mastercard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com, is a technology company in the global payments industry.  Our global payments processing network connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories.  Mastercard products and solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances – easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone.  Follow us on Twitter @MastercardAP, join the discussion on the Beyond the Transaction Blog and subscribe for the latest news on the Engagement Bureau.

About The Akshaya Patra Foundation

The Akshaya Patra Foundation, www.akshayapatra.org , is a not-for-profit organisation headquartered in Bengaluru, India that works towards improving access to education and nutrition for under-served children. The organisation, in partnership with Central & State Governments of India, serves mid-day meal to 1.6 million children enrolled in close to 14 thousand government & government-aided schools across 12 states of India and was ranked among world’ top 25 NGOs by The Global Journal in 2013.

For further information, please contact:

Mastercard
Latika Taneja - latika.taneja@mastercard.com

Avian Media
Linett Loyall - +91 9999360343, linett@avian-media.com
Mayuri Dahiya - +91 8585925739, mayuri@avian-media.com

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[1] Source: Limca Book of Records certificate