Caring Causes: 30-Hour Famine

From now until April, some 200,000 teens will go hungry as part of World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine (30HF) to raise funds and hunger awareness. Since 1992, 30HF has raised more than $150 million to fight world hunger. This is the first time 30HF funds are being designated to fight hunger here in the U.S. While many will do 30HF in February, others participate April 26-27. Teens go without food for 30 hours to get a taste of what the world’s poorest children face. Prior to the event, teens raise funds by explaining that $1 can help feed and care for a child a day. Teens consume only water and juice as they participate in local community service projects at food banks and homeless shelters. Last year 30HF raised $9.8 million to fight hunger. This year’s goal: $10.5 million.
 

Tonight, 870 million people worldwide will go to bed hungry. Nearly 19,000 children die each day from hunger and preventable diseases. Chronic poverty, affecting half the people on earth, is the cause. Nearly 3 billion people live on less than $2 a day. Funds raised this year for 30HF will be sent to 10 countries including Haiti, Burundi and the U.S. 

I participated in 30 Hour Famine when I was in high school, and many teens in my area are participating at the local Lutheran high school (as well as area churches). It is a worthwhile cause - and harder to do than it seems! The hardest part for me was doing a food drive towards the end of the famine, when we were really hungry. I've known other churches that volunteer in a soup kitchen towards the end, just to hit home the point of how hard hunger is to deal with when food is around but not available.

World Vision is a Christian relief and development organization dedicated to helping children and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty. World Vision serves the world’s poor regardless of a person’s religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. World Vision works in 100 countries, helping approximately 100 million people every year. For more information, visit www.worldvision.org.