Do you only give to families?

No. We give to single mothers, older women, etc. However, we focus on giving to families. There are many organizations that help children, the old, and the disabled. We focus on the family because they are mostly overlooked. Millions of families in India struggle to get by financially. By supporting the family, we support the children, and the future.

Do you only give 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of rice per family at a time?

No. Giving 1 kilo of rice at a time would have little impact. Instead, we give 25 kilos of rice at a time. For every 25 items we produce, we hand-deliver a 25 kilo bag of rice. For example, if each customer only purchased 1 item, it would take 25 customers to give 25 kilos of rice to one family. 25 items made = 25 kilos delivered. The majority of our giving is managed by our partner Philip Pulla.

How often do you give rice?

We don't wait until our bags sell, to give. Instead, we give while we make our bags. For example, if we make 100 bags, we deliver 100 kilos of rice by the time we ship the bags from India to our warehouse in the United States. By the time our bags are stocked at our warehouse, we have already completed the giving. In most cases, we have the recipients photo and story posted to our giving blog before you buy a bag so that it is ready to read as soon as you get your bag!

How much does it cost to give 1 kilo of rice?

The cost of giving 1 kilo of rice represents 20%-40% of the cost of each product. A lot more goes into giving than you might think, especially when you make the extra effort to make sure you are giving the right way. Here is what you are giving when you buy a Rice Love product: 1. Rice purchased from local markets rather than wholesalers 2. Higher quality rice than average 3. Jobs for our local employees. We don't rely on volunteers or foreigners. We have a paid local giving team that travels to villages, meets with village leaders, meets with families with true needs, buys the rice locally, takes photos, gather stories, creates blog posts. This is an intensive process. It's not cheap or easy, but we are proud that we can accomplish so much and share the journey with you.

Where do you give?

We are currently giving in India. The only exception is that we sell a Pineapple bag which provides 1 kilo of rice to the homeless of Hawaii through IHS (Honolulu based homeless shelter) and the Hawaii Food Bank. We plan to give elsewhere in the future.

How do you choose to whom to give?

We have partnered with a former farmer named Pulla, who travels to villages around India (currently near Hyderabad). Pulla meets with the village leader and explains what Rice Love is and how it works. He asks permission to help families in the village based on the leaders recommendation. The leaders identify families that are struggling due to job loss or illness. Pulla interviews each family one by one. With the permission of the family, Pulla's assistant writes down their story and takes their photo. If the need is sufficient, the family is given a token which can be redeemed the following week for a 25 kilo bag of high quality rice.