40 Hour Famine

The 40 Hour Famine is a fundraising event held by World Vision and includes voluntary fasting for up to 40 hours to raise money and awareness of hunger in different countries of the world.

 

By Team World Vision (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Starting in 1975, the 40 Hour Famine begun in response to the starvation of many in Ethiopia. These days, the 40 Hour Famine hopes to inspire empathy in our young for others who are less fortunate as well as educate others on the importance of helping those in desperate need.

There are 12, 24, 30 and 40 Hour Famines that people can partake in and are held all over the world in such countries as Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

However, the 40 Hour Famine is not just about giving up food, people can also give up their favourite or loved items. These can include giving up technology such as TV or game consoles as well as books, sports, certain activities and even talking.

It’s not just for adults though, kids can participate too. The 8 Hour Famine is aimed at the younger children who want to help fundraise any way they can. However, the children should only do a maximum of eight hours because it could be dangerous as well as other health risks involved.

“With our advocacy and commitment to help poor families uplift themselves from poverty, at the same time promote awareness and social responsibility among the youth” World Vision offers a unique opportunity for the younger generations to help many starving children all over the world.

So where do the funds go for the 40 Hour Famine? The funds go to special programs that are carried out by World Vision all over the world. The programs are aimed at benefiting children and their communities.

As well as supporting others by donating money to their fund-raising, events and games may also take place to help educate people on the real issue of famine in underdeveloped countries such as Africa or Asia.

Here are some tips on staying safe when giving up food for 8-40 hours which are sourced straight from the World Vision website.

• Drink plenty of water, fruit juice or tea.
• Feel free to eat energy sweets (like barley sugars) occasionally.
• If you’re at primary school, please consider skipping food for only eight hours.
• Talk to your parent or guardian if you have any existing health issues before participating.
• When you finish the 40 Hour Famine, ease your way back to normal eating by having something light and healthy, like a salad or fruit.
• Do remember that going without food is not the only option. There are plenty of other things you could choose to give up.

Click here for more guidelines when starting the 40 Hour Famine.

You don’t have to do the 40 Hour Famine to support starving children all over the world, you can sponsor a child by donating money weekly or monthly or you could just donate money straight to World Vision in the hope that they do some good with it.

Donations of any sort can help feed, educate and clothe children in need and provide them with a better future. You can change somebody’s life by doing the 40 Hour famine, any way why wouldn't you want to do that?