Fight hunger while you play mobile games this week
You can help get food to children in need this week, and maybe even have fun at the same time.
In honor of World Food Day, which raises awareness every Oct. 16 about global hunger and the fight to end it, Google Play is joining forces with the World Food Programme (WFP), the food assistance branch of the United Nations.
Through Google Play's first-ever "charity collection" of 12 featured apps and games, 100 percent of Android users' designated in-app purchases will be donated to World Food Program USA through Saturday, Oct. 21. The apps include Jurassic World: The Game, Dragon City, Cooking Fever, and WFP's own hunger-fighting app, ShareTheMeal.
"I believe innovation is at the heart of creating a world with zero hunger."
Most of the charitable in-app purchases are relevant to the issue and theme of global hunger. For example, in Jurassic World, you can buy new food resources, and in Dragon City, you can buy extra food to feed your dragons. The idea seems to tap into apps and games that already have food components, and leverage them for a higher purpose.
"I believe innovation is at the heart of creating a world with zero hunger," said Massimiliano Costa, head of WFP’s ShareTheMeal initiative, in a statement about the partnership with Google Play.
"Without thinking big, we simply cannot reach this goal. This is why it is important to use technology for good — encouraging communities around the world to step up and aim to reach a world without hunger," he said.
The theme of World Food Day is #ZeroHunger, which is also one of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (also known as the Global Goals) that provide a blueprint to improve the world by the year 2030. Goal 2 is to "end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture."
While hunger has been in decline for the past 10 years, it's on the rise again: 815 million people (about 11 percent of the global population) were affected by hunger in 2016. That's 38 million more than 2015, largely due to conflicts and climate change.
In a blog post Monday morning, Google Play Partner Development Manager Maxim Mai said the partnership with WFP aims to tackle this issue head-on. The goal, Mai said, is "to promote awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and to advocate for food security and nutritious diets for all."
Here's the full list of apps and games in the World Food Day collection:
Topics Activism Gaming Social Good
Matt Petronzio was the Social Good Editor at Mashable, where he led coverage surrounding social impact, activism, identities, and world-changing innovation. He was based at the New York City headquarters from January 2012 to April 2018, and previously worked as the assistant features editor.
