THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 2008
Teens Go Hungry To Raise Awareness
A few weeks ago, 14 teenagers, who are members of a Mt. Prospect church, went 30 hours without eating.
"It turned out great and it was a good experience," said Director of High School and Young Adult Ministry at St. Paul Lutheran Church Tony Dixon. "At first, the kids were really excited because it was the beginning of the night. As we got into more of the scheduled activities, the concept of the fasting experiment hit home for them."
The teenagers on Friday, Apr. 25 through Saturday, Apr. 26 in St. Paul Lutheran's youth group participated in World Vision's 30-Hour Famine for the first time ever, to help feed and care for children living in extreme poverty around the world. They joined 500,000 teens nationwide aiming to raise more than $12 million to fight world hunger.
As of Monday morning, the group raised approximately $600, and Dixon said the students are still collecting funds. Only half of the money has been turned in to this point.
Dixon pointed that $600 may not seem like much, but World Vision will use that money to feed 20 children in a month.
During those 30 hours, the group of teenagers constructed a memorial to children who have died from world hunger and also participated in a scavenger hunt.
Students were given a list of ways to help serve in the community and lend a helping hand to others. They were also given $10 to buy everything listed on their sheet to donate to the food pantry.
Dixon said the students went over their price limit and the difference in cost came out of their own pocket, voluntarily.
According to World Vision, each hour, 1,280 children die as a result of starvation. A total of 1,280 crosses were built out of paint stirring sticks and placed in the church yard to help the students understand just how "substantial" that number is---but to also raise awareness in the surrounding community, according to Dixon.
Additionally, Dixon brought in cardboard boxes and had the students construct their own shelter, to make them understand and experience what people without homes go through on a daily basis.
There was fear that some of the students would faint or suffer from malnourishment, but Dixon said the students had no problems at all with fasting for 30 hours.
Students that participated in the event were: Kristin Preuss, Julia Fulton, Craig Bashleben, Anna Wegener, Megan Kearns, Alex Osvath, Aari Osvath, Jodie Buchanan, Marybeth Madsen, Julian Santos, Andrew Sheridan, Lizzie Meier, Corbin Blackwell, and Matthew Reiner. The adults supervising include: Nate Lane, Dixon, Megan Dixon and Chuck Vetter.
Dixon said he anticipates the event to occur again in the near future.
---Richard Mayer