"What can you do on an empty stomach?"
That was the question contemplated by students at Howe Sound Secondary School on Friday (March 12) during the annual 30-Hour Famine.
The famine is held each year to raise money for people in Third World countries in conjunction with a World Vision project aimed at young people, specifically students.
The Howe Sound students went without food and drank only water for a 30-hour period during an overnight at the school. Throughout the night they played games and had fun, all the while trying to ignore the hunger pangs in their stomachs.
"The coolest experience for us during the famine was when we all sat down in a dark room with a lit candle for everyone," said Parm Gill, a lead organizer for the school's event. "Each candle represented a child's life. We went around the circle explaining why each of us was doing the famine."
Everyone at the famine on Friday night had a good reason for taking part, and they shared an enlightening experience while foregoing food consumption.
"We learned that a lot of people were doing the famine to raise awareness, experience what hunger feels like and how impacting it is, raise funds in support of other people, and find out what you can truly do on an empty stomach. Afterwards, each individual blew out a candle which represented a child's life disappearing every second somewhere around the world," Gill said.
While it's a struggle to go without food for longer than a day, students like Gill and fellow organizer Brianna Burns are more than willing to go hungry and raise more funds.
"This is Brianna's second year doing the famine, and my third. We would definitely do the famine again," said Gill.
"The hardest part about doing the famine was resisting the temptation to eat. When we stopped munching for that many hours, we could definitely feel our stomachs responding to it and the urge to eat something was tremendous."
According to the World Vision website, more than 1 billion people worldwide don't get enough food to eat every day.
However $30 raised for World Vision can help to feed and provide necessities for a child for a month. That's why the Howe Sound Secondary kids are attempting to raise $5,000 in donations, and they're still collecting through to the Friday (March 19) deadline.
The students hope to raise at least another $500 this week to add to the almost $4,000 they've already collected.
For more information about World Vision's 30-Hour Famine, visit www.30hourfamine.org. Since many people in the world survive off of less than two dollars a day, maybe skip today's coffee and donate to World Vision.
