Over the weekend, about 50 Boston University students fasted for 30 consecutive hours to raise money and awareness for world hunger. As a part of the 10th annual 30-Hour Famine led by the organization World Vision for the past 10 years, the students joined about 600,000 participants nationwide, including 15,000 people from youth groups and schools. The BU InterVarsity Christian Fellowship sponsored this fast at the University for the second year in a row and experienced an increase in student involvement from 12 participants last year. Eighty-one percent of the proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit needy individuals and families in Peru and Tanzania.
Americans and college students in general tend to take for granted the fact that they can eat every day. While they may complain about dining hall food and not having money to buy meals, most BU students have never had to experience true starvation.
According to the online hunger resource The Hunger Site, about 24,000 people a day die from starvation. In addition, more than 800 million people in the world are hungry, according to the world hunger organization Bread for the World. This fast gave its participants the chance to have a small glimpse of what those 800 million people experience every day.
The Famine participants were able to understand hunger on a personal level. Hunger is not only an international issue, but it also affects many people in Boston. As a result of this Famine, more students will hopefully realize that more needs to be done to combat this pervasive issue.
In seeking pledges for the famine, the student participants made their relatives, friends, classmates and co-workers aware of the problem of world hunger. This innovative and non-antagonistic approach is effective because it spreads the message of ending world hunger in a non-confrontational way.
Congratulations to the BU InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, to the Famine sponsors and especially to the students who forewent eating to make a statement about world hunger.
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