So far, 280,966 boxes donated... how do you click .6 times?

I'd love to know what are the point of sites like these? I mean, sure, it's great to feed the hungry and Kraft has agreed to donate "up to" a million boxes but... why not just donate the whole million and call it a day? It's not like that site design + coding and bandwidth is free. Heck, with the money saved maybe they could have donated 1.1 million boxes and feed some more people.

Is it so people can say they made a difference even though they didn't do anything more than click some button? Or am I just in a bad mood?

@Applekid: It's more about getting people on the site. If they go, most people might click somewhere else, find out about a new product, etc. Brand awareness.

And, yeah - you just might be in a bad mood. But it's Monday, so all is forgiven.

I clicked, but had to go to IE to do it because the app wouldn't load in Firefox for me even though I have Flash installed there.

For those interested in free click-to-donate stuff, there's a newsgroup on Yahoo for the subject here: [groups.yahoo.com]

We used to have a lot more to talk about when such sites were prevalent, especially The Hunger Site and the rest of that group, but the whole concept has faded since the decline of online ad revenue. So the group is low-traffic now, but folks do post about new sites to click.

Spread the Cheese & Macaroni around!!
Or Kraft Dinner, eh?

@Applekid: I question this more with single-origin situations like this one, but I think it's still roughly the [www.freerice.com] model--the publicity generates revenue that funds the donations.

I'm clicking away, the way layoffs are hitting, we all might need some of that pasta magic with the tasty powdered cheeze!

@Vanilla5: Exactly. There's a site that I go to ([www.theanimalrescuesite.com]) where every click donates .6 bowls of pet food. It also has products to buy and sponsors and links to other charities. It's also a really easy way to get people to participate in a charity, but not have to actually do any real work and feel good about themselves anyway.

@squinko: While donations are great, and engaging an otherwise passive intertubes-public in giving is well and good, that's kind of what makes me feel so creeped out by these kind of sites.

It makes people feel like they're doing good, it makes them feel like they're participating in a charity, but they've done absolutely nothing. They haven't added to the capacity of the "charity" organization by donating money or time, they've only clicked a button...

and the money/supplies are already there to begin with, participants haven't actually helped put them together or provided any money to fund them. So, no one who clicks a button at freerice did anything to make more rice in the world or get it to people who need it, they just felt good about themselves for a moment, and are probably less likely to participate in more "in person" charities as a result.

The whole Kraft junk is not charity at all, it's just marketing by a company that already has the resources to donate, but now has created an excuse for not donating up to their potential. "Oops, the internet people didn't click enough. No food for the hungry people."

Plus, Mac and Cheese for hungry people? Tasty I guess, but nutritionally deficient.

In sum: @Applekid, you may be in a bad mood, and I may be too, but nonetheless, I see where you're coming from.

I feel conflicted about encouraging the consumption of salty, fatty, cheap foodstuffs. This is not nutritious. Yes, it will fill bellies, and abating hunger is good, but we can do better. Isn't this type of food habit partly to blame for rising healthcare costs?

@peachplum: In the words of Sophia Petrillo, "Sure, let's give them all heart attacks, they won't need homes! Your heart's in the right place, but I wonder where the hell your brain is!"

@veg-o-matic: I don't disagree with the notion that it's not volunteerism and it's rather trading on the notion that it's akin to it, and that companies want to be seen as charitable without necessarily being all that charitable.

However, I'm not prepared to condemn the principle of such donations entirely. Advertising has actual value, as does my exposure to it. This quantifies my ad viewing as a commodity (usually the deal is less explicit) and allows me to extract an exchange for it that makes me feel like I'm getting a better deal than usual for my ad viewing. Sort of like the old NetZero plan, I guess, only with a charitable component.

@veg-o-matic: You described exactly how I feel, but more eloquently than I could do it. I get creeped out by these things also.

I noticed it during the home run derby last week - hit this sign and we'll donate this! This much donated so far! It made me feel uncomfortable - but maybe I'm a misanthrope.

@Necoras: Apple's new mouse?

Oooo these sites chap my hide!

I love how these companies hold the goods hostage until you click on their link. As though this were charity in any way.

"Subject yourself to our advertising, and we'll take a tiny portion of the inevitable revenue we gain from it and give it to poor people!

And if you don't click the link, the starving kid gets it.

@squinko: yeah, i donate to the animal rescue site from home and work every day, and then during the competition i vote for the shelter that i foster kittens for. then i click an ad or two to make sure they keep going

@peachplum: Kraft Dinner is hardly nutritious food, you're right... but then again, it's fortified like breakfast cereal is with a lot of vitamins and minerals and all that. I ate it a lot during early pregnancy when I couldn't stomach my prenatal; it's got a ton of folic acid. So it's not GOOD, but there are far worse things to feed hungry kids.

@veg-o-matic: I'm totally with you - and I've lost my taste for making these sites part of my morning ritual in favor of actually putting some volunteer time in with organizations I believe in. But at the same time, I'm also sort of with floraposte, and admit that they DO generate something, even if I'm not entirely comfortable with it...

@Applekid:

It's also data mining. You'd feel like a real ass if you didn't sign up for their twitter feed or tell your friends that they could feed hungry people with just a click wouldn't you? Well, just give up their e-mail addresses and you won't have to feel bad. DO IT, DO IT NOW