PERU – Local teenagers will fast as part of a fund-raising effort for World Vision’s 30-Hour Famine on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27 and 28.

Therese Cihak, Alyson and Jessica Gill, Chelsie Gunther, Bryant Hunt, Ray Hutchinson, Chris Mejias, Coty McLaughlin and Hannah Mikkonen are part of the Friends on a Mission Youth group based out the the United Baptist Church. This is the sixth year local teens have opted to participate in this international program, which includes more than one million participants in 21 countries. Last year Friends on a Mission raised $1,400 of the collective $22 million project wide.

Because of efforts like the 30-Hour Famine (begun in 1992), the number of children who die each day from hunger and hunger-related diseases has fallen from 35,000 to 29,000.

While teens fast for 30 hours, they can empathize as they learn more about the factors involved in poverty and what it’s like not to have enough to eat. In the U.S. alone, one out of every eight children under the age of 12 goes to bed hungry every night. Worldwide, one in 12 people is malnourished, including 160 million children under the age of 5, according to World Vision.

It only takes $30 to feed and care for a hungry child for a month and $360 to feed a child for a whole year. The funds raised during the 30-Hour Famine will be used to help feed hungry children and families in countries such as Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi, which have been devastated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, as well as countries in South America, Asia, Eastern Europe and the United States.

Serving the community is a key component of the program. On Feb. 27, the teens will work at the Free Store in Mexico from 8 to 10 a.m. followed by a bottle drive in Peru from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Funds collected in the bottle drive will be matched by a challenge grant from the Sandy River Charitable Foundation and allow the purchase of food from the Good Shepherd Food Bank for the Families in Crisis Task Force food pantry.

Founded in 1950, World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization, serving the world’s poorest children and families in nearly 100 countries. World Vision maintains health, education, agriculture, water, sanitation, and small business projects that help millions of people in their communities, helping transform the lives of children and families in need without regard to their religious beliefs, gender, race or ethnic background.

To make a donation or to get more information about this project, call Cathy Hazelton (562-8278), Liz Cihak (369-0222). or log onto the World Vision site: www.30hourfamine.org.