Led locally by Puneet Garg, Udita Garg, and Garima Bhardwaj, Akshaya Patra’s Las Vegas Chapter hosted another heartwarming, emotional, and successful fundraiser at the elegant villa of Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, drawing nearly 150 attendees in support of feeding school children in India. The evening combined entertainment, informational speeches, and a strong sense of community purpose.

The event raised over $200,000, significantly boosted by a generous announcement from Ramesh Srinivasan, President & CEO of Agilysys, who pledged matching funds up to $100,000 for all donations made during the gala.

Indian-American comedian Rajiv Satyal from Burbank, CA, kept the atmosphere light and engaging. Per Satyal, it was his 31^st appearance at Akshaya Patra’s gala around the country. Entertainment highlights included a dynamic dance performance by Kimaya and Keomi and a song by Arya, members of the Akshaya Patra youth group, followed by a vibrant group routine by children from the Arpan Dance Academy. In their speeches, both Kimaya and Arya highlighted their respective recent trips to Akshaya Patra’s kitchens in Delhi and Bangalore and how amazed they each were by watching the industrial-scale meal preparation by the volunteers and the logistics of delivering lunch to hundreds of schools across India’s sprawling cities.  

Akshaya Patra’s Chairman Emeritus, Siva Sivaram, addressed the audience with an update on the ongoing initiatives to combat hunger and provide resources to the homeless population.

Chair Sivaram informed the attendees that over 75 Kitchens are actively feeding 2.35 million children across 25,000 schools. Last year, the United Nations honored Akshaya Patra for serving its four billionth meal. “We are proud to share that we have now crossed the five billionth meal mark, and around 7,000 people are involved in preparing and delivering the meals every day to schools across India,” said Sivaram. Every day, around 7,000 dedicated individuals are involved in preparing and delivering these nutritious meals to schools across India.

Ramesh Srinivasan talked about his own journey from growing up in a lower middle-class kind of home, graduating from IIT, BHU, to the Rs. 170 per month merit cum meals scholarship and a private scholarship to join IIM as the family couldn’t afford the IIM tuition. It’s time for to give back to the community to help someone else. “Now you do your best to help someone else…there’s nothing more touching or depressing than kids going without food, so whatever we can do to help, we should do our best,” said Srinivasan.

National Board member Sivaram thanked the collective efforts of local volunteers, donors, and performers, emphasizing that the evening was not only a celebration of generosity but also a decisive step forward in the fight against child hunger among schoolchildren in India.