Claim: Playing a word definition game at FreeRice.com results in food being donated to the needy.
Status: True.
Origins: At FreeRice.com, you can "donate"
Each correct answer results in another donation of
FreeRice.com is the creation of 49-year-old American computer programmer John Breen, and is the sister site of Poverty.com, launched in January 2007 with a counter showing one person dying of hunger every
As to who foots the bill for the food being donated, the site says: "The rice is paid for by the advertisers whose names you see on the bottom of your vocabulary screen." As more people play the game, the site racks up more advertising revenue, which in turn is converted into food donations for the hungry.
On 7 October 2007, the first day of the site's operations, only 830 grains were donated. As of
The rice is distributed by the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP), an organization that in 2006 reached
Additional information:
![]() | Frequently Asked Questions (FreeRice.com) |
Last updated: 9 June 2009
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