About
It’s an opportunity to put your love into action by eating simply and sharing your savings to feed hungry kids.
During the month of March (or the 40 days of Lent), your participation in Rice & Beans Month will directly impact the nutritional needs of vulnerable children across East Africa. Since the first Rice & Beans Month in 2010, three central themes have guided this experience:
Simplicity
We alter our diets to emphasize basic and inexpensive meals, choosing to reduce the diversity and excess often present in our food choices.
Solidarity
We stand in unity with our brothers and sisters in East Africa who often struggle with limited resources and inadequate nutrition.
Sharing
We donate the money we saved by eating simply, so that vulnerable kids and their families can receive much-needed nutritional support.
Some participants commit to a full 31 (or 40) days of simple meals. Some eat one meal of rice and beans each day or each week. Every meal makes a difference, so make this experience your own. The funds donated to Rice & Beans Month are used to improve food security for vulnerable families by providing supplemental nutrition, funding sustainable food projects, and offering emergency food assistance in times of crisis. This event touches the lives of hundreds of kids and families in East Africa each year, and it will impact your life as well. We welcome you to join us!
A SIMPLE MEAL WITH A BIG IMPACT
OVER $165,000 RAISED SO FAR
by people who have simplified their meals and shared their grocery savings. How has this money been used?
FOR PROJECTS SUCH AS THESE:
– Kitchen gardens for families living in rural Tanzanian villages
– Drip irrigation system for a children’s home and farm in Kenya
– Nutrition Program for HIV+ children in Dodoma, Tanzania
– Land parcels purchased for establishing agriculture programs
– Emergency food assistance for South Sudanese refugees
– And many more!
HOW DID IT START?
In 2010, our programs at Lahash were growing and impacting hundreds of lives, but the staff was at risk of burning out. We turned to God for help, and began to integrate spiritual practices and rhythms that helped us connect more deeply to Jesus.
It was during this time of spiritual renewal that we created a very unusual event. We committed to a month of eating simply and donating the money we saved to buy food for families in East Africa.
That first “Rice & Beans Month” helped us grow as a staff, and gave us another practical way to care for vulnerable kids. They had a food crisis, we had a spiritual crisis. God used Rice & Beans Month to address both types of hunger.
Year after year, the event grows in participation and impact. By intentionally eating simple foods that mirror the diet of our East African friends, participants spend far less than usual on groceries while connecting with God and others in meaningful ways.