Feeding A Hundred

"If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one." -Mother Teresa

Next to Thanksgiving, Christmas is the time of year when people seem to gorge themselves the most. Ham, apple cider, gingerbread, fruitcake, eggnog, candy canes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, nuts, custard, pie... Is your mouth watering yet? The holiday season seems to be the time to eat, and as Christmas Eve approaches, I'll be spending less time on the internet and more time in the kitchen. But not everyone is so lucky as to gorge themselves on my sugar-tabasco pickles or sweet potato souffle.

In fact, there are about 852 million people in the world this Christmas who will go hungry. 852 million. You and I cannot possibly feed 852 million people... But the World Food Program can. Or at least, they can try.

If you want to join me in helping the WFP feed those starving mouths, there is a very simple way to do it: click the title of this post ("Feeding a Hundred") and it should link you to freerice.com's Toolbar Installation page. Or you can simply click here: http://freerice.com/toolbar.php?utm_source=lp_banner Downloading this toolbar is free and easy, and for every five searches you run, freerice.com sponsors donate 2,500 grains of rice to hungry people; it takes almost no time and very little effort.

Of course, through the toolbar, you can only donate up to 5,000 grains a day. If you're interested in contributing more, or just don't want another toolbar cluttering up your internet page, you can spend a little more time earning rice by playing the games at freerice.com. There, you donate as much rice as you want by submitting correct answers as you are quizzed on subjects of your choice. Improve your English grammar or vocabulary; learn some Italian, Spanish, French or German words; test your knowledge of geography, basic math, or the periodic table. You can even learn some famous paintings while you're at it.

I've made it a habit to "waste" extra time on the Internet on freerice.com when I'm bored rather than playing FarmVille or browsing bumper stickers on Facebook. If I'm at a loss for something to do, I just head over to Free Rice and start accumulating grains. For me, it's more than reaching some goal before my deadline's up; it's about making the lives of others easier to live, in any small way that I can.

So, Merry Christmas, everyone! Enjoy your holiday meals-- and, maybe, I'll see at FreeRice.com?

The Greatest Time of Year

Well, the site has been made over for Christmas! I have time to do that now, since my novel is officially complete! That's right! 50,000 words in only 29 days this time! But I've got to move on to other goals before I get a sunburn basking in this triumph.

Lately, I've been volunteering at Rescue Ranch, a rehabilitation/adoption center for abused horses, in tune with goals #5 and #11. That means dodging the hooves of angry stallions and mucking out empty stalls while I jam out to the country station. Seems like a lot of work for only one volunteer hour a week. But I'll get my 125 hours one way or another.

I've also finally gotten a job, although I don't think it really counts for goal #2. I landed a gig babysitting for two grammar school cheerleaders and their six-year-old little sister. I can't really tell you if that's better or worse than volunteering at the horse shelter, but I do know that it at least pays. Goal #3, here we come...

And with Christmas cheer in the air, I'm getting ready to tackle several goals during the holiday season. I plan on volunteering at the retirement home over Christmas break (#4) and baking some holiday treats for my family and friends (#10 & 15). It's also the time of year for hot chocolate at the barn (#16) and stocking stuffers for my equine friends (#17). And as the presents and Christmas cards go out, I should be able to manage Goal #59 and at least some of Goal #18. Plus, all those presents need bows! (#76) It's also the time of year for spontaneous kindness, and I figure over the two week break that I get from school, I can fit in some Random Acts of Kindness (#83) and inspirational post-it notes (#88) and maybe even some more free rice (#95).

Now, I doubt I'll get to all of these in the 20 days left in the Christmas season or even the week or so that I have off following it, but if I at least get to half of them, I'm in pretty good shape for the New Year. And from there, who knows?

Only Americans would think to feed the world via internet

I decided to devote this morning to Goal #95 Donate 100,000 grains of rice to freerice.com. With a little less than 4,000 grains donated since the beginning of the 1,001 days, I'm sorely behind. But there's still time to complete this goal, and learn somethings while I'm at it.

Let's see what I've picked up today...

1,170 grains of rice

And I learned a something--how awesome of a word is tomfoolery! I think I'll have to incorporate that into my NaNo novel.