Project 511, an initiative of Hyderabad Round Table 8 (HRT8) today announced the 5th edition of “Food for Change”, a black - tie charity dinner as part of Daan Utsav at a conference held at Hotel ITC Kakatiya, Hyderabad. This year Food for Change charity dinner will be held on October 15th, at JRC Conventions and the proceeds of this charity dinner will go towards the efficacious work done by Project 511. With the help of this charity event, Project 511 is trying to provide quality educational facilities for the underprivileged.
HRT8 and Daan Utsav have set a unique tradition of hosting an exclusive annual black-tie charity dinner, Food for Change (FFC), which connects the citizens of Hyderabad with the worthy cause of educating the underprivileged in the city. They bring together eminent personalities of Hyderabad to step back and savour the successes of Project 511. FFC has been a tremendous success in the past four years with about 1,000 guests attending each year. Goodwill ambassadors of Project 511 include Salim Merchant &Sulaiman Merchant, WS Laxman, Pullela Gopichand, SamanthaRuth Prabhu, Rakul Preet Singh. Some of the leading corporates of Hyderabad have been extremely supportive of their initiatives.
Speaking on the activities of Project 511, Mr. Srinivasan Namala, Chairman of Project 511 said, 'We have found support from Government, Round Tables in the area, Corporates and individual donors who have come forward to help us achieve our goal of providing basic facilities in Government schools. We are on course to finishing our existing initiatives and have started new initiatives based on learning outcomes.
The management of Continental Coffee Ltd, impressed with the idea of giving back to the society, has graciously come forward to be the title sponsor for the event for the second year in a row. Speaking on the same, Mr. Challa Srishant, Managing Directorsaid "We take immense pleasure in being the title sponsor and are happy to associate our brand with Project 511 for sowing quality seeds for a better tomorrow & future of India by providing quality education to underprivileged children."
Managing Director & CEO of CYIENT Ltd Mr. Krishna Bodanapu said We believe in the philosophy that sustained development of society is vital to the sustained growth of the businesses that exist within that community. This belief has led us to spend over 2% of our net profits towards CSR initiatives."
Speaking on the long term association with Project 511, Julius Fernandes, AVP - Operations of Avasa said, “Avasa is glad to be a part of Food for Change. It gives us immense pride to support a cause in which we believe. We are hopeful that the efforts put in by the hospitality industry will make a difference and bring to focus the issues of better education and amenities for the underprivileged children
Mr. Gopinath Gopalan, General Manager, Hyatt Hyderabad Gachibowli, remarked, We as a company strongly believe in giving back to our local communities. Project 511 reinforces our values and responsibilities towards education, training and personal advancement. We are grateful towards the team of Project 511 to help us serve the cause and work for the betterment of the society. ”
Speaking on the participation with the Project 511, Thomas Abraham, General Manager, Park Hyatt Hyderabad says, “It is an honour to support an esteemed event like Food For Change, for a noble cause. We are delighted to extend our partnership and direct our effort towards education, which is the only way forward towards development. It gives us pleasure that our participation will help in providing equitable conditions to government school going children which in turn will help in the betterment of our country as a whole. We look forward to participate for a worldly cause.”
“Sheraton Hyderabad is delighted to support this initiative. We hope our contribution will make some difference in improving the conditions of our schools and in developing an environment that is conducive to learningShibil Malik, GM Shera- Sheraton Hyderabad Hotel
“Marriott Hyderabad is pleased to be associated once again with FFC, and I look forward to us participating in the event with our partner hotels - Westin & Sheraton. The work that Project 511 does resonates with Marriott’s ethos of ‘Spirit to Serve* where we give back to our communities in the areas we work in.Showcasing cuisines crafted by the leading hotels in Hyderabad is a great way to raise funds to support a noble cause” - Shrikant Wakhakar, GM Marriott Hyderabad.
Since its inception, Project 511 has grown by leaps and bounds and is currently working with 1022 schools in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Sangareddy, Medchal and Medak districts. Cumulatively, it has touched the lives of more than 200,000 children in last 10 years. Project 511 focuses on two main areas - infrastructure and competency. The former area (infrastructure) deals with ensuring adequate blackboards, sanitation and seating for students, while the latter (competency) provides learning material and facilities like science labs etc. This is the one project which has been bringing about significant change with focused initiatives and ensuring that the benefits trickle down to the grass root levels.
About Project 511
Right to Education is a fundamental right as guaranteed under RTE Act. Many poor children attend private schools despite government schools being free. This is because private schools have resources to create a good schooling environment, whereas the government schools lack in basic facilities - blackboards, benches, toilets, running water, cleaning staff, and others. The need to improve these facilities is what prompted HRT8 (Hyderabad Round Table 8) in 2003 to start Project 511 initiative. The vision is to enable quality learning environment in government schools by liaising with all the stakeholders - government, other NGOs, corporates and local communities.
