We all find spare time between projects or deadlines. Some of us read the newspaper or catch up on our MySpace accounts, while others shop or check personal e-mail on the company’s bandwidth. The competitors among us will pick out a game, such as Solitaire or Free Cell.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has joined forces with sponsors and advertisers to support FreeRice.com, a Web-based vocabulary game that donates 20 grains of rice for every correct answer.

“This is another example of how Web sites can raise funds for humanitarian needs,” says Jennifer Mizgata, public affairs assistant for WFP’s Washington, D.C., office. “We’re proud to be a beneficiary of FreeRice, which is such a good way to reach a wide strata of people.”

The FreeRice site was the brainchild of John Breen, whom Mizgata dubs a “computer programmer with a social conscience.” Breen, who also designed The Hunger Site (www.thehungersite.com) so viewers could make donations to combat world hunger by clicking on banner advertisements, launched FreeRice in October 2007.

At first, Breen controlled advertising on the FreeRice site, which involved sponsors making donations per page view, which Breen invested into WFP. But FreeRice grew too large for one person to handle and WFP took over advertising in April to allow Breen to continue working as developer. The site had donated more than 31.2 billion grains of rice through May 5 from the estimated 300,000 to 500,000 people who play FreeRice every day.  

Mizgata attributes the popularity of FreeRice to a number of factors. One is the educational value, which helps students of all ages improve their vocabulary as they learn the meanings and pronunciation of new words. The other is the immediacy of a good deed  – FreeRice gamers can watch their donations grow as they answer correctly.

“Since the site was launched, it has generated 570 metric tons of rice, which is enough to feed 1.4 million people for a day,” Mizgata says. “Especially in America, more and more people are interested in knowing who they are helping and what their work is doing.”

Even with the viral following FreeRice has generated – a group dedicated to the program on the social networking site Facebook claims more than 60,000 members and boasts more than 15 million grains raised – the volatile price of rice in international markets may force WFP to temper how much it donates. When Breen started the project, 10 grains were donated for every correct answer, and the WFP raised it to 20 grains as popularity grew.

But with rice prices rising as high as $1,000 per metric ton this year due to a shortage in crops, Mizgata admits WFP might have to return to awarding 10 grains per correct answer. The best way to prevent this is by recruiting more advertisers. Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it if you want to help.