This weekend, while their classmates succumb to the munchies or bite at the sight of french fries, about 50 Boston University students will be trying to curb world hunger.
Realizing that there are some less fortunate who would give nearly anything to wait only 30 hours for their next meal, the students will begin more than a day of fasting to remind themselves how lucky Americans are.
World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine, in its 10th year nationwide, expects to have more than 600,000 participants this year, 15,000 of which will be from youth groups and schools, including BU. Last year’s global effort raised $22 million.
Organized by the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at BU, the number of participants in the Famine has increased from 12 members its inaugural year to include other students as well, totaling 50 participants in this, its second year.
“Last year it was really small-scale,” said Heather Hanson, a freshman in Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and member of the Fellowship. “This year we tried to make other students more aware of the event.”
World Vision, the parent organization of the 30 Hour Famine, is a nonprofit Christian relief and development organization that serves 88 countries, including the United States, according to its website. Students involved in the Famine each obtain sponsors for the event with proceeds given to World Vision to be donated.
“Student sponsorship is really low-key,” said Liz Borghese, a staff member of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. “Most people ask their classmates, friends, roommates and family members for donations.”
Eighty-one percent of the proceeds from the Famine go directly to needy people in the various countries. This year’s proceeds will go to the people of Peru and Tanzania.
The Famine, which begins tomorrow at 6 p.m., will continue until midnight Sunday.
“At the kickoff meeting we’ll learn about hunger and oppression around the world. There will be videos and a speaker from the International Justice Mission in Washington, D.C., Kevin Clouse, who’s affiliated with World Vision,” Borghese said.
“It teaches you a lot about awareness of the abundance in America,” Hanson said. “You think about the amount of food you eat each day when there are people that don’t even eat once a day.”
Borghese said she learned a lot about her personal eating habits through her involvement last year.
“I didn’t realize how often I would snack when I got hungry; most people don’t have the luxury of doing this,” she said.
As is customary in some religions, prayer will play a part while the participants are fasting. An optional prayer meeting will be held Saturday at noon.
“When you’re fasting you try to use the time when you’re hungry to pray,” Borghese said.
“I’ve grown up going to church, but while I’ve been at college and part of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship here at BU, I’ve really been blown away as I learn about how much the Bible talks about justice and fighting against injustice,” said Jen Peplowski, a senior in the College of Communication and an organizer of the Famine.
The main purpose, besides fundraising, is to spread awareness about hunger and poverty, both in the United States and around the world, said Karen Kartes, the event’s media promotional manager. “We’re trying to send the message to ‘Go beyond yourself,’” she said.
“The more you learn about this issue, the more you realize the luxuries we have,” Peplowski said. “We don’t have to worry about when and where we can eat. We have the [George Sherman Union Court], Late Nite Cafes; the possibility of food is everywhere.”