MUMBAI: Robert F. Smith, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners announced his philanthropic investment in Akshaya Patra Foundation by pledging a contribution of USD 1 million (Around Rs. 6.5 Crore) over five years to aid mid-day meal plan of Foundation.
The fund will be used to purchase trucks to transport meals to schools in various areas of the country. With USD 200,000 granted each year, contributions will aid the delivery of meals to 80,000 students per day, and over 18 million meals per year.
Robert recently named by Forbes as one of the 100 Greatest Living Business Minds, announced the collaboration alongside Hardeep Gulati, CEO of PowerSchool, and Shridhar Venkat, CEO of Akshaya Patra Foundation.
“Our culture at Vista emphasizes the importance of positively impacting and engaging with the communities in which we live and work,” said Robert F. Smith.
“We invest in the future. And Akshaya Patra’s work does that. By ensuring that students have the nourishment they need to be able to learn, the foundation plays an integral role in the education of Indian youth, and we are honored to help them execute on their mission.”, he added.
“This commitment will immensely expand our ability to deliver meals to schools children and help us in furthering the mission of serving 50 Lakh children by 2020”, said Shridhar Venkat, CEO, Akshaya Patra Foundation.
The Foundation serves mid-day meals to over 1.6 Million children every day in 13,759 schools, to ensure they come to school without fail using 33 kitchens across 12 Indian states.
