By Helen Borland / Staff and Brandon Crocker / Staff

How would you like to go hungry day after day? Well, about 30 Roswell teens went without food for a day and a half this weekend and experienced hunger first hand. The purpose of this depravation was to empathize with Haiti quake survivors, raise money, and help eradicate world hunger.

The sponsor of this weekend's Hunger Awareness Campaign at St. David's Episcopal Church was World Vision, a Christian relief and development organization. Over 150 youth groups in the Atlanta area participated. World Vision is dedicated to helping children all over the world reach their full potential by dealing with the root causes of poverty.  

During the 30 hours the teens fasted -- the theme for this year’s Famine -- by not eating (consuming only liquids), they experienced what the poorest children and families face every day. "They are going to be sleeping outside tonight in little box huts they built," says Youth Director Katie McCree. "It will give them a chance to experience how less fortunate children live." The Atlanta youth also raised awareness by creating a striking visual display. They stuck 14,000 white plastic forks into the ground to represent the 14,000 children worldwide that die of starvation every day.

This is the19th year World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine has raised awareness and money to fight hunger both overseas and in the United States. This year a portion of the proceeds will go to Haiti to help with long-term needs such as food, planting of fruit trees, small-scale drip irrigation, construction of new clinics and a new pharmacy.  Additional funds go to similar projects in nine other countries with crises that make children vulnerable.

Since 1992, students have raised more than $130 million worldwide. In 2009, 30-Hour Famine raised nearly $11 million. During 2010 more than half a million teens nationwide will participate and hope to raise $12 million to support World Vision in countries where famine, conflict, and other crises make children vulnerable to hunger and preventable disease.  " I wish there was even more attention to what we are doing here," says William Mcintosh, a member of the youth group, "more could get done."  World Vision works in nearly 100 countries, helping approximately 100 million people.

Contact Helen Borland at hborland@beaconcast.com and Brandon Crocker at brandoncrocker.com