WA Cherry Orchard partners with nonprofit to provide 26,000 meals to Dalit children in India
By India Partners,
Eugene Oregon
In 2010, Broetje Orchards awarded India Partners $14,000 from its annual cherry crop proceeds to help provide 26,000 school lunches to Dalit students in Andhra Pradesh, India.
Every year the workers at Broetje Orchards in Prescott, Washington choose from a list of over 20 charities to receive proceeds from their annual cherry crop pickings. In 2010, India Partners’ Hungry Child Project was voted #9 by the workers at Broetje Orchards. After harvest, a net profit of $460,000 was distributed to 16 projects in 8 countries. Broetje Orchards awarded India Partners’ Hungry Child Project $14,000, which help to feed 100 poor children one meal per day, five days per week, for 12 months, totaling 26,000 meals in 2010.
The Hungry Child Project began in 2007 when teachers at an India Partners-funded school noticed that the children attending the school arrived hungry on a daily basis. The children range in age from 3-12 years, and most are Dalits, or untouchables, which is usually the poorest class in Indian society. Many are children of day laborers with inconsistent income, which affects when the families are able to eat regular meals. Sometimes the families must eat food that has already spoiled.
“Many of these Dalit children go door to door every morning begging for food on their way to school,” says Brent Hample, President of India Partners. “The Hungry Child Project provides the children with hope and perhaps the only meal they will eat that day.”
Each meal costs just under $1 (including salaries for cooks and servers, and transportation). A meal consists of rice, dall, eggs, vegetables, buttermilk, tamarind water and sometimes fruit and cookies. During school holidays, the meals continue to be distributed from the local church.
However, nearly half of the children who attend the school still go without lunch, and the need for meal sponsors is continually growing. Meal sponsors can donate as little as $15 to feed one child lunch for one month, or up to $180 to feed one child lunch for a year.
To donate to the Hungry Child Project, please visit www.IndiaPartners.org, call toll-free 1-877-874-6342, or email us at [email protected].
About India Partners:
India Partners works alongside a broad group of indigenous, faith-based grassroots agencies in India focused on alleviating poverty and injustice. India Partners believes in helping the people of India help themselves, regardless of caste, religion, gender or creed. We seek support from others who share our passion to empower change.
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