It has been just over a year since I learned about the site Free Rice. I got addicted, then forgot about it. Now I am reminded of it again and getting readdicted.

Free Rice is fun and feeds the poor around the world. You play educational games and for every answer you get right, rice is donated to feed the hungry. Last night my wife and I had a nerdy good time with world capitals, chemical symbols and famous paintings, and in the process donated some 16,000 grains of rice to feed the hungry. Given that sometimes I get addicted to this kind of nerdy game anyway, it''s nice to be able to feed some people as well.

Do you know the capitals of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan? How about the difference between a Fanz Hals and a Bruegel? Learn math, science, Spanish, French, famous paintings, etc. while helping to feed the hungry. What could be better?

About a year ago I introduced readers to a neat little site called "Free Rice." Basically back then you could play a vocabulary game and for each answer you got right sponsors would pay for 20 grains of rice to feed the poor around the world. In their first month of operation last year this effort raised enough to feed 50,000 people for one day. Not a huge thing, but a nice little effort.

They have continued operation since then, though I had forgotten about them. My wife and I had really been into them last year, and recently I noticed them advertising on a blog I read. And my wife also commented on it, wondering if they still were around. So I looked into it. Yep...they are still around.

Now they have expanded, offering not just vocabulary but also geography, foreign language, chemistry and math games. Each answer you get right donates 20 grains of rice. Overall, since October 2007, Free Rice has donated more than 55 billion grains of rice. That's enough to feed 2.75 million people for a day. It's fun and educational. And it does a small part to feed people. Free Rice is a sister site of Poverty.com and partners with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and the United Nations World Food Program. From their site:

FreeRice has two goals:

1. Provide education to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

This is made possible by the generosity of the sponsors who advertise on this site.

Whether you are CEO of a large corporation or a street child in a poor country, improving your education can improve your life. It is a great investment in yourself.

Perhaps even greater is the investment your donated rice makes in hungry human beings, enabling them to function and be productive. Somewhere in the world, a person is eating rice that you helped provide. Thank you.

Please visit their site and enjoy learning something and feeding some people.