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Mole's Progressive Democrat

The Progressive Democrat Newsletter grew out of the frustration of the 2004 election. Originally intended for New York City progressives, its readership is now national. For anyone who wants to be alerted by email whenever this newsletter is updated (usually weekly), please send your email address and let me know what state you live in (so I can keep track of my readership).

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Location: Brooklyn, New York, United States

I am a research biologist in NYC. Married with two kids living in Brooklyn.

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  • Help end world hunger
  • Thursday, February 19, 2009

    FREE RICE: Feeding the world the fun way

    It has been just over a year since I first learned about the site Free Rice. I got addicted back in late 2007, then forgot about it. Now I am reminded of it again and got readdicted.

    Free Rice is fun and feeds the poor around the world. You play educational games and for every answer you get right, rice is donated to feed the hungry. Last night my wife and I had a nerdy good time with world capitals, chemical symbols and famous paintings, and in the process donated some 16,000 grains of rice to feed the hungry. Given that sometimes I get addicted to this kind of nerdy game anyway, it''s nice to be able to feed some people as well.

    Do you know the capitals of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan? How about the difference between a Fanz Hals and a Bruegel? Learn math, science, Spanish, French, famous paintings, etc. while helping to feed the hungry. What could be better?

    About a year ago I introduced readers to a neat little site called "Free Rice." Basically back then you could play a vocabulary game and for each answer you got right sponsors would pay for 10 grains of rice (down from 20 due to economic crisis) to feed the poor around the world. In their first month of operation last year this effort raised enough to feed 50,000 people for one day. Not a huge thing, but a nice little effort.

    They have continued operation since then, though I had forgotten about them. My wife and I had really been into them last year, and recently I noticed them advertising on a blog I read. And my wife also commented on it, wondering if they still were around. So I looked into it. Yep...they are still around.

    Now they have expanded, offering not just vocabulary but also geography, foreign language, chemistry and math games. Each answer you get right donates 10 grains of rice (Bush's economic collapse has led to them reducing the rice they donate from 20 to 10 grains per right answer). Overall, since October 2007, Free Rice has donated more than 55 billion grains of rice. That's enough to feed 2.75 million people for a day. It's fun and educational. And it does a small part to feed people. Free Rice is a sister site of Poverty.com and partners with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and the United Nations World Food Program. From their site:

    FreeRice has two goals:

    1. Provide education to everyone for free.
    2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

    This is made possible by the generosity of the sponsors who advertise on this site.

    Whether you are CEO of a large corporation or a street child in a poor country, improving your education can improve your life. It is a great investment in yourself.

    Perhaps even greater is the investment your donated rice makes in hungry human beings, enabling them to function and be productive. Somewhere in the world, a person is eating rice that you helped provide. Thank you.


    Please visit their site and enjoy learning something and feeding some people.

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