Martin County Students raise $30,428 with a matching grant for World Hunger Through World Vision's 30 Hour Famine

JENSEN BEACH(March 8, 2007) -350 Martin County students and Youth Ministry leaders joined hundreds of thousands of other American teens the last weekend in February to respond to the World Hunger Crisis. Teens nationwide participated in the 16th annual 30 Hour Famine, fasting fromfood for 30 hours to get a taste of what the world's poorest children and families face everyday. Prior to the event, teens raised funds by explaining that $30 a month - just $1 a day - can feed and care for a child for 30 days. Energized with compassion rather than food during their fast, Martin County 30 Hour Famine participants gathered representing 12 local church youth ministries, to consume only water and fruit juices. The youth spent the night in boxes and tents that were decorated to support this year's "Starve Hunger" theme. Other activities during the event included worship, world hunger education, prayer room, video booth, open mic, bungee run, strobe light dodgeball, basketball, volleyball, flag football and ultimate frisbee.

Funds raised by 30 Hour Famine participants help feed and care for children in poverty-afflicted countries around the globe. 30 Hour Famine funds contribute to World Vision's response in areas where famine, conflict, and other crises make children vulnerable to hunger and preventable disease. "The 30 Hour Famine has a lasting impact, not just on the children receiving food, care and education, but 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. "Since 1992, 30 Hour Famine has raised more than $80 million, representing countless saved lives."

Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a deadly humanitarian crisis in Darfur and natural disasters all over the world may dominate the news headlines, but behind the scenes and far from the spotlight, hunger and preventable diseases claim the lives of 29,000 the world's children a day.

Right now, 852 million people around the world don't have enough to eat. Chronic poverty, affecting half the world's population is a root cause of hunger. Nearly 3 billion people live on less than $2 a day. Annually, more than 10 million children under the age of five die from disease and malnutrition as a result of hunger.

The connection between HIV/IDS and hunger is even more heartbreaking, especially for children. People affected by HIV/AIDS are often less able to grow or find food to eat. In sub-Saharan Africa 12 million children have been orphaned.

Last year 30 Hour Famine raised $11.6 million, this year's goal - $12 million. World Vision works in 100 countries, helping approximately 100 million people every year. Visit www.30hourfamine.org, call 800-7-FAMINE or call locally 772-692-1616, Jacqueline Smail, Minister of Youth at North Stuart Baptist Church for more information.

World Vision is a Christian relief and development organization dedicated to helping children and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty. World Vision serves the world's poor regardless of a person's religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.