Move over, ice bucket. There’s a new challenge in town.
The Rice Bucket Challenge isn’t merely participants dumping a bucket of rice over their heads. Rather, they simply pass on a bucket of rice to somebody who’s hungry.
It’s being billed as an “Indian version for Indian needs,” in a country where rice is a diet staple, the mission’s Facebook page reads, the Daily News reported.
The challenge is straightforward: Pick up a bowl of rice. Walk over to the nearest needy-looking person and give it to him or her. Take a selfie of the transaction and post it on Facebook with the hashtag #RiceBucketChallenge. Then pass it on.
“Why waste water?” Manju Latha Kalanidihi, an editor for the rice research site Oryza.com in India and the creator of the challenge, told CNN. “I felt like doing something more locally tangible. Rice is a staple here. We eat it every day, we can store it for months. Why not donate rice to someone who is hungry?”
The ice bucket challenge — where participants dump a bucket of ice water over their heads — was created by the ALS Association as a means of raising funds and awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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