Students to raise funds to feed hungry children

More than 850 million people around the world don't have enough to eat. Annually, more than 10 million children under the age of 5 die from disease and malnutrition as a result of hunger, and teens from Lampasas are ready to be a part of the solution.

On Friday, they will join youths all over the nation who will "Be Hungry," the theme for World Vision's 30-Hour Famine this year, by going without food for 30 hours to get a taste of what the world's poorest children and families face every day.

Prior to that, students raise funds with the knowledge that every $30 they raise can help feed and care for a child for a month. Groups also performed service projects during the weekend in order to make a difference in their own community as well.

As part of the famine, local participants will fast for 30 hours beginning Friday at 1 a.m. After school, local students will meet at First United Methodist Church to learn about the plight of African children, the AIDS pandemic and what they can do locally to impact hunger issues stateside.

During the fast, they will build a one-room house, which will be located in the Wesley Fellowship Hall, in order to bring education to the community and congregation on exactly what is going on in Africa, from AIDS and orphans to child soldiers.

First United Methodist is hosting the event for the third year. Students also will sleep in cardboard boxes on the front lawn of the church. Students must raise a minimum of $30 to participate in the event -- all of which goes to World Vision for the needy.

The 30-Hour Famine has a lasting impact, not just on the children and families receiving life-changing food and care, but also on participants who view their own potential to affect change very differently afterward, said Debbie Diederich, national director of the World Vision 30-Hour Famine.

Funds raised help feed and care for children in poverty-afflicted countries around the globe and contribute to World Vision's response in areas where famine, conflict and other crises make children vulnerable to hunger and preventable disease.