BY KATHY CHANG
Staff Writer
METUCHEN — With a goal of helping 15 children across the world stay alive for another year, the youth group at First Presbyterian Church of Metuchen took a stand with a fast of 30 hours.
“A lot of the youth don’t feel they have the capacity to contribute a solution to these world problems,” said Carolynn Parisi, who organized the event for the youth group with Charles Day and a band of volunteers including parents of the youth group and parents of children who participated in the event over the years.
Thirty-eight members of the church’s youth group, in grades 7 to 12, participated in World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine on Feb. 19 and 20 held at the church.
Parisi said the youth group has participated in the 30 Hour Famine off and on for the past decade.
The event, which draws hundreds of thousands of students in the United States and thousands more around the world, serves as a fundraiser as well as a learning experience for the youngsters about hunger.
Parisi said the members of the youth group were split up into seven teams. The night of Feb. 19, the youngsters researched the countries they were given, which included the Dominican Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Malawi, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and North Korea.
The youngsters focused on health issues, economic issues and what is causing the hunger crisis in those countries. Parisi said a surprising fact that the youth group members as well as the adults learned about was the hunger crisis in North Korea, which she said some might not think to have such a problem.
Parisi said the teams then created a plan for their country and in Shark Tank style pitched why their country was the most in need.
The weekend also included a powerful candle light ceremony.
“Four lights were extinguished representing how many children die from hunger every four seconds,” she said.
In between activities, Parisi said the children would journal about the activity and what they learned.
Other activities during the weekend were gathering wood, which is a typical activity for children in third world countries, water collection in gallon jugs trekking from the church to Tommy’s Pond, fire building with the wood collected, geocaching for food, which organizers hid around the borough, the creation of stone soup, clothes making with tie dye, and food collection for the church’s food pantry, which currently services 45 local families.
Parisi said that prior to the event, they had set up food donation bins at local establishments including Campbell Elementary School and the post office. They also called upon the generosity from members of the First Presbyterian Church’s congregation to donate a bag of groceries and leave it on their porches for collection.
Emma Walters, an 8th-grade student at Edgar Middle School, said she thinks what made her feel more empathy and sympathy for people in Africa during the 30 Hour Famine is when they had to carry the water jugs from Tommy’s Pond on Lake Avenue and back to the First Presbyterian Church of Metuchen when they were hungry. The trip to and from Tommy’s Pond to the church is approximately 1.2 miles.
“I know people in Africa have to do that every day and it wasn’t easy,” she said. “It made a big impact on me.”
Her classmates, Ethan Kozo, a 7th-grader at Edgar Middle, and Diego Lijeron, an 8th-grader also at Edgar Middle, made the same realizations.
“I enjoyed participating in the 30 Hour Famine because I kind of understood what it is like for a lot of hungry people around the world,” said Ethan. “Not everyone is as fortunate as we are and it is important to understand that.”
“During the famine, I realized how hard it was for youth to do daily activities such as lighting a fire, carrying water, and finding food every day,” said Diego. “It must be even harder to do if you are starving.”
An event toward the end of the fast included having the youth set up crosses on the grounds of the church representing 1,200 children who die per hour of hunger.
“This is a very powerful visual statement,” said Parisi.
Closing events also included a service and a breaking of the fast by sharing the stone soup that the group had made during the day.
The youth group’s goal was to try to raise $6,375 to feed and care for 15 children for one year. About $35 help feed and care for a child for a month and $425 will feed a hungry child for an entire year.
Parisi said they well exceeded their goal by raising $9,100, which translates in keeping 21 children alive for the next year.
“The kids were super excited and we were super proud,” she said of their fundraising efforts. “We wanted the kids to realize why they chose to do this and that they are responsible in keeping 21 children alive.”
Emma Boughton, a senior at Metuchen High School, and Molly Walters, a sophomore, also at Metuchen High, have both participated in 30 Hour Famine for a few years.
“No matter how often you participate in something like this, you have a tendency to forget the struggle of functioning without food that is very real for so many people around the world and [even] around our own neighborhood,” said Emma, who added that she will carry the lessons she learned during the famine throughout her everyday life.
Molly said this was her third year participating in the event.
“I find that doing this once a year reminds me of what I have to be grateful for,” she said. “It gives me a sense of what life is like for people less fortunate than me and reminds me of why we need to take action and help.
For more information visit http://youth.worldvision.org/team/fpcmetuchen.