30 Hour Famine; Are You Hungry?

While this really isn't an exploration in cooking, this is an exploration into hunger, which generally both hit the same spot. In America, it's rare for people to die from hunger.

According to World Vision, "Today 25,000 kids under age 5 will die--most of them from preventable causes like hunger, poverty and disease. 13,000 kids under age 5 will die just from causes related to hunger. That's one child every seven seconds."

Each year, many of the local youth groups participate in World Vision's 30 Hour Famine. As a youth sponsor at my church, this was my first year learning about the Famine.



As part of the 30 Hour Famine, the youth group joined up with other local churches from the area. They passed out bags through the town with a note that they would be collecting cans to benefit food banks and homeless shelters throughout the region.

Additionally, they collected donations from family and friends to send to World Vision. As part of the donation process, they had to go without eating for 30 hours.

Through World Vision, the church's decided to send all of their donations to Africa. In this case, $30 can feed 1 child for a whole month.

As part of the Famine, an employee of The Timothy House, a homeless shelter in Athens, Ohio, came to share the some of the experiences of homelessness with the kids through a homeless simulation.

During the simulation, there were three 15 minute days and three 5 minute nights. They each were given a packet describing the persona they had to take on, which sometimes meant they had a disease or mental illness that they needed to see the doctor for, they had to get a temporary job, visit the food pantry, etc. They also had to sleep in a homeless shelter during the 5 minute nights or in the designated outside area. Additionally, they needed to ride the bus to get to destinations or have a walking pass. If they didn't do any of these things, the cop would take them to jail.

Though the kids may not have felt the full effects of homelessness and hunger, they did learn how difficult and frustrating life can be in those situations.

If you're hungry to help, donate to World Vision.

The Verdict: Overall, this was a rewarding experience. The youth group raised a good amount of money and learned that they have a lot to be thankful for.