Area students will attempt to help fight hunger and poverty around the world through an event hosted locally by Fresno Pacific University and World Vision.
Local teenagers will join thousands of others across the United States and forgo food for 30 hours on March 1-2 in the annual World Vision 30 Hour Famine. Participants ask family, friends and neighbors to sponsor them with pledges as they fast to identify with those who are hungry. Through videos, games, special events and involvement in local community service projects they learn about hunger and what they can do to help others.
FPU will host Friday evening and Saturday morning sessions to educate participants on the themes of world hunger and poverty, then challenge and inspire them to action. On Saturday afternoon more than 300 teens will spread throughout Fresno and Clovis to perform community projects including food drives, clean-up in neighborhoods and individual homes, service in local agencies, visits to the elderly and prayer walks. Anyone interested in participating in the 30 Hour Famine activities at Fresno Pacific can contact Tim Neufeld, biblical and religious studies faculty, at 559-453-2093. For more information on World Vision call 1-800-7-FAMINE or see www.30hourfamine.org.
Last year, more than 600,000 young people in the United States raised over $8 million through the World Vision 30 Hour Famine. Events around the world involved 1.2 million participants – in 21 countries – who collectively raised more than $20 million for the agency's hunger and poverty-fighting programs.
World Vision is the world's largest privately funded, international nonprofit Christian relief and development organization. FPU has teamed up with the Central Valley Youth Ministries Network to be a resource for local youth groups, promote unity among local churches across denominations, create awareness of global hunger issues and raise funds for the fight against hunger.
FresnoPacific Universityis an accredited Christian university ranked fifth among best values among Western universities—master's category by U.S. News & World Report. Located on a 42-acre campus in southeast Fresno, FPU has an enrollment of 1,900 students—half in graduate and half in undergraduate programs. The university also enrolls 12,000 students annually in its professional development studies programs offered locally and throughout the world.