Click to Fight Hunger

Think back to those days in school. Remember that never-ending period before lunch? You can’t concentrate, and the teacher is going on and on about whatever. Sure, math is important, but what use will it do if you die of hunger first? Well, then perhaps you can begin to sympathize with the malnourished and those in poverty within third-world countries today.

Close to a billion people world-wide suffer from hunger and malnutrition. In fact, every six seconds, a child exits this cruel world hungry (source: www.fromhungertohope.com). That hour of discomfort seems petty in retrospect, doesn’t it? There must be a way to end this terrible crisis; Miss America hopefulls have pledged to for years. However, one person can not do it alone. As in many things, if we wish to put an end to something, we must form groups. We must cooperate and share our strengths to help out. The site fromhungertohope.com is full of resources that can help you do so. Here, I would like to advocate a choice of charities that we all can contribute to.

Perhaps you have heard of the site freerice.com and its mission. It was set up by the United Nation’s World Food Program (WFP) and Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard. It has two goals: 1) to provide a free education to its users and 2) to provide rice to those that need it for free. They accomplish both these goals by showing a multiple choice question about one of many subjects (including math, English, science, geography, and other foreign languages such as Spanish and Japanese). If you answer correctly, a sponsor will give WFP enough money to buy 10 grains of rice, and you are given another question. If you answer incorrectly, you are simply given an easier question (without any penalty). Soon enough, you have honed your skills in that subject. Then, you look over to find you have accumulated hundreds or even thousands of grains of rice being donated because of your simple actions. Good work.

Now, I have to admit, tests aren’t exactly the kind of thing we all go around looking to do in our spare hours (at least, not the average mortal). However, this is for a good cause, and the questions aren’t even that bad (you can set the skill level wherever you please). Still not buying it? For those of you that want something out of this, there is one more reason to do this. You can get art for free. On Gaia Online, an acquaintance of mine runs an online graphics shop where you can purchase a picture in exchange for proof of a donation on FreeRice. More information exists on the above link and at its formal website: www.riceforart.webs.com , co-created by myself and the afore-mentioned associate. Here, you can help others, and get a sweet pic in exchange for it. Even if you don’t want a picture, please join the community of your fellow responsible citizens of the world. We are looking to raise as much food as possible, and contributions are much appreciated.

In the end, we are all human beings. Forgive me if I overuse cliches, but we all do breath the same atmosphere. We all love, and we all look out for those we care about. We all need food. So, step up; break down the walls of predjudice and build up a tower of charity. As you have seen, you don’t have to work that hard, and you can earn something from it. Meanwhile, you can know that you have helped to fight hate, need, and dark with love, giving, and light.