Got a few spare minutes to play and feed the world?

THANK YOU to Drew of fairytalefibers for passing on a fantastic link she found to http://freerice.com I thought this was a wonderful thing to add to our 'extend the help' twist on this blog and have now added a link from this site to the left-hand column... Basically, the link will take you through to a fun word game, and for every correct answer, FreeRice will donate 20 grains of rice to help end hunger!!! You can visit the FreeRice website via the above link but here is some info from the site's FAQs that you might find interesting...

FreeRice is... a website committed to the cause of ending hunger around the world. While it is not a registered non-profit organization, it is run entirely for free and makes no profit. All money raised by the site goes to the UN World Food Program to help feed the hungry. Sponsors make all payments to the UN World Food Program directly.

The rice that you donate is distributed by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP). WFP is the world’s largest food assistance agency, working with over 3,000 other organizations in over 75 countries. In addition to providing food, WFP helps hungry people to become self-reliant so that they escape hunger for good. Wherever possible, WFP buys food locally to support local farmers and the local community. Please visit the WFP website to learn more at www.wfp.org

The UN World Food Program (WFP) works around the globe and FreeRice donations are made with no restrictions. This freedom of use allows WFP to apply the donations to countries that need it most, often those that don’t make the headlines in the news, yet where chronic hunger continues unchecked. Often WFP is able to purchase the rice in the very countries where the beneficiaries are located, cutting down on the transport time to reach the hungry and helping to stimulate local economies at the same time.

The first FreeRice donations have gone to purchase rice:

• In Bangladesh, to feed 27,000 refugees from Myanmar for two weeks. Please click here to watch FreeRice being distributed in Bangladesh.
• In Cambodia, to provide take-home rations of four kilograms of rice for two months to 13,500 pregnant and nursing women.
• In Uganda, to feed 66,000 school children for a week.
• In Nepal, to feed over 108,000 Bhutanese refugees for three days.
• In Bhutan, to feed 41,000 children for over 3 days.
• In Myanmar, to feed 750,000 cyclone affected people for 3 days.

The rice you donate makes a huge difference to the person who receives it. According to the United Nations, about 25,000 people die each day from hunger or hunger-related causes, most of them children. To a mother or father watching a loved child die in their arms from hunger, the rice you donate is more precious than anything in the world.

Please remember that you are not the only one playing FreeRice. Though 20 grains of rice is a small amount, it is important to remember that while you are playing, so are thousands of other people at the same time. It is each and every one of you together that makes the difference. Your 200, 500 or 1,000 grains may not seem like much by itself, but consider that in its first five months, FreeRice generated enough rice to feed more than one million people.

Click on the link and have a go! Even one correct answer gets results, so go for it and have fun :)

maisyh

HELP... with a click

It's quite simple really. All you have to do is one - or both - of these two things:

1. You have to care, and
2. you have to click!

HOST is all about - and stands for - helping others. All the people we help are Etsians - either we know them; they are HOST members; they contact us themselves; or are referred to us by concerned and caring friends or Etsy colleagues. We (and by 'we', I mean the HOST team and those who support us) love what we do and wish constantly that we could do more. We are always looking for new ideas, suggestions, helpful links and resources, and promo ideas to raise funds to help with the ever-increasing need within the Etsy community.

We would however like to stretch the margins a little further. Many Etsians - HOSTies included - also have deep personal views about supporting worthy causes beyond the obvious. Some of us care deeply about environmental issues; some are dedicated to helping animals; others may support medical-related causes, helping to raise funds or awareness for diseases like cancers, for example. With this in mind, we have added a new feature to our team blog:

HELP... with a click.

All over this blog, we have pasted in links for six worthy, and essential causes that span and affect mankind around the globe. One, or all of these causes will mean something to every person who visits this blog. By searching our blog, you will identify link icons that attempt to address the following:

1. Hunger
2. Breast Cancer
3. Child Health
4. Literacy
5. The Rainforest
6. Animal Rescue

These are in no order of preference or importance, since they are all equally worthy and relevant causes to each of us. Please, help HOST to expand outside the Etsy margins and do more good in arenas that matter to all of us: look for these icons every day and CLICK TO HELP! Choose one icon that has special meaning for you - or choose all of them! Whichever you choose, the important thing is that YOUR CLICKS WILL COUNT!!!

Thank you :)

maisyh