The event – Together for Turkiye – was hosted by Agile Minds Corporation in collaboration with ·       The Turkish Embassy in Bangladesh ·       TIKA (Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency) ·       AFAD (an on-the-ground Turkish NGO which will help with logistical and installation aspects) ·       The Earth Identity Project - NGO no. 1969 (which will help with local fund collection) ·       THRIVE (a US-registered NGO that will, in due course, provide food packages for the earthquake victims) Read More: Banglalink donates relief items for Turkey earthquake victims Mishal Karim, Chairman of Agile Minds Corporation, started his speech with a quote by Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” He then stated, “Our initiative will attempt to deliver a functional field hospital with all the required elements: 2 Air Domes - each 4,380 Square Feet, with a connecting channel of 459 Square Feet. The 2 Air Domes come with a 30KW Generator required for their operations. Furthermore, we are arranging for the donation of Sleeping bags, Battery-powered Heaters, Power banks, and Tent mats.”

Food is one of the most important basic human rights. Even though global food production is more than the demand, the geopolitical and distributional bureaucracy causes 10% of the global population to go hungry each day. Against the backdrop of such a pressing issue, one organization is aiming to challenge the status quo with one child and one meal at a time. Here’s the inspiring story of Thrive. What is Thrive?  Thrive is a 501c3 and Bangladesh Registered Trust that currently operates in Bangladesh and the Philippines. Thrive was co-founded and started by Priscilla Heffelfinger, Regina Landor, and Gina Gabel. The main goal of the organization is to provide nutritious meals to school-going children every day.  The Story of Thrive  It all started back in 2012. Priscilla Heffelfinger has just moved to Dhaka, accompanying her husband, who was the country director of CDC and had a role with ICDDR, B. Priscilla Heffelfinger, along with Regina Landor and Gina Gabel, saw hungry children and knew they wanted to help.  Read More: Majority of children with disabilities are not enrolled in any formal education: Survey They asked local schools what they needed most, and the resounding response was food. The children were either not showing up or were too hungry to learn took the first initiative for a definitive answer to student hunger. Thrive grew, but not overnight. It took the work and dedication of many volunteers willing to give their time to help hungry kids. While Thrive began as an expat start-up, it grew due to the generous support of the Bangladesh community. Local leaders Amna Rahman, Sadia Moyeen, and Kanwal Bhagat, who joined in 2013, propelled Thrive’s work by engaging local individuals and companies to commit financial support, in-kind donations, and their volunteer talents to expand our work to feed more needy schoolchildren.   Read More: RU teachers ‘beat’ students on hunger strike But there were a lot of constraints while starting. The idea was to help socially neglected children by means of support. But support how exactly?  The Need for Food  While doing groundwork, Priscilla and her team found that the most pressing need for growing children is the lack of adequate micro and macro nutrients. Social welfare schools set up for economically challenged students pointed out that the immediate need for such institutes isn’t often money. Rather a meal since a fair share of students are unfed or half fed.  Going hungry often challenges these students to reevaluate their priorities. As a result, there are a large number of student dropouts who opt for wage-earning instead of going to school.  Read More: Imprisoned Egyptian activist calls off hunger strike Priscilla and her team thought of this as the exact opportunity. Having worked in the development sector for over 20 years, Priscilla understood the imminent need.  A mix of two basic human rights is fulfilled through food.  How Does Thrive Work?  Thrive is different from traditional NGOs or INGOs in Bangladesh in the sense that it was initially an expat-led social venture that aimed to work with students from slum areas. The venture has been supported by both local and international well-wishers and has seen rapid growth over the years.  Currently, Thrive serves nutritious meals to over 12000 students each week in Bangladesh and the Philippines. Thrive claims that there is an imminent wait list of another 3000 students waiting to be incorporated into their meal plan.  Read More: Global hunger numbers rose to as many as 828 million in 2021: UN Report Now feeding hungry children and school performance may seem unrelated. But from the socio-economic concept of Bangladesh, where 50 million people live in extreme poverty, it's not surprising that child labor is ever so prevalent. These children turn into breadwinners for themselves and their families while they should have been studying.  With a nutritious meal each day, hunger is addressed. The balanced diet ensures children are getting their essentials which act as brain fuel. The culmination is increased concentration, focus, physical and mental development as well as increased attendance in classes. 

SAJIDA Foundation has entered a partnership with Thrive, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to delivering healthy food to hungry children, to provide food to 330 students in three schools.  Non-government organisation SAJIDA is sponsoring nutritious meals, delivered by Thrive, for all the schoolchildren of Apon Alo School (Rayer Bazar, Dhaka), Jaago School (Habiganj, Sylhet), and Ucchash School (SonPocha Char River Island, Bogura) from May 9 to August 31. "Thrive's work really brings us back to our roots as a school started in a garage. Healthy meals give children the fuel they need to learn and succeed in their education," said Muhymin Chowdhury, director (challenge fund, partnerships and communications) at SAJIDA. READ: Ecnec rejects Tk 17,290-cr primary school meal project Thrive has been delivering meals to schools since its inception ten years ago and has served these three schools for more than four years.  Having SAJIDA sponsor all of these schoolchildren in some of the poorest areas of Bangladesh allows Thrive to move additional children off its waitlist.  "SAJIDA's generous donation and willingness to ensure a healthy meal for these children every school day for four months gives us the ability to expand our reach and feed even more hungry kids," Priscila Heffelfinger, co-founder of Thrive, said. READ: 3 mn school children to receive food rations While this programme marks Thrive and SAJIDA's largest effort to date, the organisations worked together in the past.  Last March, SAJIDA, Thrive, and the Amal Foundation teamed up to bring emergency food relief to Rohingya families displaced by a devastating fire in the Balukhali refugee camp in Cox's Bazar.  READ: All govt pry schools to go under midday-meal programme by 2023 SAJIDA supported the cost of 5,000 hot meals.