FreeRice
Find out more about our proposal to expand FreeRice. Watch our video:
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FreeRice, an innovative take on the concept of “food for thought,” furthers free education and combats hunger. This educational website rewards students’ performance on learning games with donations of rice to the hungry through the United Nations World Food Programme. Its simple interface and rapid-fire mode of play have attracted a large community of participants; nearly 50 billion grains of rice have been donated in its first year of operation. Because the site is operated by a single individual, however, its ability to expand is limited. The site’s current content is still inadequate to sustain continued use.
Because of the site’s established reputation among children and educators, FreeRice has the potential to evolve into a much more expansive educational and philanthropic platform that could reach an even larger audience. We aim to bring a holistic approach to FreeRice’s growth, allowing teachers, parents, students, and other community members to contribute new educational content modules. With an open API and a content review system, the site’s growth would no longer be bounded by the contributions of a single individual. The addition of user accounts would increase the site’s interactivity, allowing its users to track their learning and donations from any computer and enabling schools to use FreeRice for class projects and interscholastic contests. The site will ultimately be self-sustaining, fueled by content contributions from the community and funded by advertising revenues. At the moment, however, initial funding is needed for initial API development and the creation of a content review system.