Teens Go Hungry to Help Haiti Quake Survivors Through World Vision's 30-Hour Famine

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Jan 27, 2010, 09:00 ET

Hunger Awareness Campaign - February 26th, 27th

Hundreds of Thousands Participate Nationwide

30-Hour Famine Funds go to Haiti Quake Relief and Long Term Needs

SEATTLE, Jan. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Next month, hundreds of thousands of American teens will go hungry in an effort to help Haiti quake survivors and fight global hunger through World Vision's 30-Hour Famine. This year, a portion of funds raised by 30-Hour Famine groups will go toward Haiti's long-term recovery.

Pat Rhoads, World Vision's 30-Hour Famine Manager says, "I'm really excited and grateful that teens here can have a direct impact on teens and children in Haiti. Many wish they could go there and help the people of Haiti. This is a way to directly help them, even if they can't make the trip."

Now, by participating in World Vision's 30-Hour Famine, hundreds of thousands of American teens will also put a human face on the untold suffering of the Global Food Crisis. And youth will be helping those hardest-hit by the recession here at home as they participate in community service projects (at food banks, soup kitchens and homeless shelters).

Where does 30-Hour Famine money go? Haiti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Sudan, Mauritania, Pakistan, Zambia, Zimbabwe and other targeted spots where famine, conflict and other crises make children vulnerable.

World Vision has been working in Haiti for more than thirty years. This year, in addition to addressing immediate relief needs, 30-Hour Famine funds will be spent on long-term needs in Haiti such as food rations to children and mothers and HIV-positive adults, fruit trees, small-scale drip irrigation, guinea fowl and pigs, construction of eight new clinics (serving 55,000) and a new pharmacy, immunizations and more.

Tonight, nearly one billion people worldwide will go to bed hungry -- that's one out of every six people on earth. 26,000 children die each day from preventable causes like hunger, disease and malnutrition. Chronic poverty, affecting half the people on earth, is the cause. Nearly 3 billion people live on less than $2 a day.

This February 26th & 27th, hundreds of thousands of American teens will participate in World Vision's 19th annual 30-Hour Famine, forsaking food for 30 hours to get a taste of what the world's poorest children face. Prior to the event, teens raise funds by explaining that $30 a month -- just $1 a day -- can feed and care for a child for 30 days. As they fast, teens consume only water and juice as they participated in local community service projects.

Since 1992, students have raised more than $130 million worldwide. In 2009, 30-Hour Famine raised close to $11 million. This year's goal is to raise $12 million. World Vision works in nearly 100 countries, helping approximately 100 million people. Visit www.30hourfamine.org or call 800-7-FAMINE for more information.

AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS:

Pat Rhoads -- 30-Hour Famine Manager -- World Vision

Media Contacts: Gardi Wilks 708-366-8389 (office) 708-205-5020 (cell)

John Yeager 253-815-2356 (office) 425-765-9845 (cell)

About World Vision -- 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. For more information, visit www.worldvision.org.

SOURCE World Vision U.S.