Twenty-nine students in Kent were among an estimated 150,000 kids nationwide who went without food for 30 hours last weekend to raise awareness for world hunger.
Their action was part of World Vision’s 20th annual 30-Hour Famine, a fundraiser in which young adults go without food for more than a day to better understand what it means to be hungry. The teens began their fast at noon Friday and broke it together at a potluck Saturday evening.
To read about their experience, visit this link at The Seattle Times.
Each day, one billion people go hungry and nearly 8,000 children die. Starvation, sickness and weakness will kill one child every 10 seconds. World Vision reports that it has raised $140 million since the famine project began in 1992. This year’s goal is set at $10 million. The money, mostly from pledges, goes to World Vision causes in countries such as Sudan, Haiti and Japan.
At Bellevue’s Westminster Chapel at the end of March, over 40 students and leaders stayed overnight, sleeping in cardboard box shelters on a concrete floor, to experience hunger and gain awareness of this plight. They refrained from eating for 30 hours, to experience what people around the world deal with every day.
Visit King 5 TV’s web site to hear the inspirational story of 18-year-old Sandeep Thomas, who spearheaded the organization of the 30-Hour Famine event at Westminster Chapel. Thomas was orphaned at age 5 in India when his mother committed suicide and his alcoholic father left the family. He was adopted into a family who later moved to the Seattle area.
Westminster Chapel is still raising funds for World Vision through Saturday, May 28. Checks (made payable to World Vision) can be sent to:
Westminster Chapel
Attn: Ceri/30 Hour Famine
13646 N.E. 24th St.
Bellevue, WA 98005
To learn more about the 30-Hour Famine, visit the World Vision web site at www.30hourfamine.org.
