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Giving Thanks, Giving Rice
Players of Freerice can log-in using their Facebook or Twitter profiles, share the amount of rice they've raised and create groups to play with friends or classmates. Play Freerice!
For families across America gathering to celebrate Thanksgiving, it’s never been easier or more fun to help a hungry child in need. With a family round of the online word game, FreeRice, they can put their vocabularies to the test while earning rice for the hungry—all at the click of a mouse.
ROME – One of the easiest ways to help a hungry child this Thanksgiving holiday is to play Freerice, the unique, online, vocabulary game that allows participants to give rice to the hungry with the click of a mouse.
“Thanksgiving is certainly a time when those who have enough to eat gather to enjoy a big meal, and Freerice is the perfect way to do something fun that gives others a chance for a meal too,” said Nancy Roman, WFP Director of Communications, Public Policy and Private Partnerships, adding that this Thanksgiving weekend, Americans will consume around one quarter of a billion turkeys.
Where does the rice go?
Since launching in 2007, FreeRice has raised enough food to feed more than 4.2 million people for a day in countries like Bangladesh, Uganda and Cambodia.
Thanksgiving challenge
Freerice combines addictive wordplay with the community-building appeal of social media, enabling families and friends to engage in online competitions across the United States during Thanksgiving.
Around 40,000 people play Freerice every day, including more than 5,000 groups, comprising schools, friends and different nationalities.
“I’d like to build on this momentum and capture the imagination of American families to engage them in an online drive that will help feed the hungry this Thanksgiving,” Roman added. “Generosity and goodwill is at the heart of this holiday and Freerice helps you give while having fun at the same time - and it won’t cost you a cent.”
Since its launch in 2007, Freerice has helped raise enough funds to feed more than 4 million people for a day in countries like Uganda and Bangladesh. In the original – and most popular – game, players are asked increasingly difficult questions about the meaning of words.
Playing nationwide
Each correct answer earns ten grains of rice that is paid for by advertisers on the website and donated to the hungry by WFP - currently, there are almost one billion people around the world who go hungry every day.
While the word challenge on Freerice is still the game’s biggest attraction, players can also test their knowledge of art, geography, chemistry or math, or gauge their understanding of French, Spanish, Italian or German vocabulary.
“There are more people playing Freerice in America than anywhere else in the world,” Roman said. “This is growing into an online movement that can bring about real change for hungry people who won’t be sitting down to a hearty meal in the coming days.”
