Acorn

Tuition is almost $50,000 per year, and Drew students are going hungry? While Commons food may not be gourmet, it is better than nothing. But for the next 30 hours, eating nothing seems far more rewarding for some Drew University students.

The InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IVCF) is hosting its annual 30 Hour Famine today and tomorrow, following the Hunger Banquet held yesterday.

�The events are sponsored nationally by two different groups,� IVCF Co-President junior Elaine Atim said, �but we host them together every year to spread a thorough message about world hunger.�

The 30 Hour Famine is a nationwide event held in February and April this year. The event is sponsored by World Vision, an international Christian relief and development organization, according to the group�s website.

�It is a youth movement for colleges, high schools and even middle schools to help fight hunger,� Atim said.

IVCF Co-President junior Evan Smith described it as a �hunger marathon.� Participants have to find sponsors to donate money for each hour they don�t eat, just as marathoners collect sponsors for each mile they run, he said.

�It can be as little as one dollar per hour, but it really adds up,� Smith said. �In past years we�ve raised close to $4000.�

The group expects over 50 students to participate in the event, while many more have already contributed in other ways.

�We have been collecting donations at our sign-up booth all week,� Smith said. �We already have more than $200.�

While $200 may not seem like a great deal of money to solve a problem like world hunger, World Vision publications quote that just $360 can feed a child for an entire year.

The Hunger Banquet held the night before the famine is traditionally a fund-raising event as well, sponsored by Oxfam America, an international agency that delivers emergency hunger relief to people in poverty, according to the group�s website. However, IVCF chose not to sell tickets and instead used the event as an �educational opportunity� for Drew students to learn more about the severity of world hunger, according to Atim and Smith.

The group convinced Aramark to join their efforts and provide a meal to banquet guests.

The banquet�s educational component came from Drew alumnus James Winans (�00), who spoke on his recent New York City Urban Project. Winans recently completed a project for which he resided in the most impoverished regions of New York City. For an entire summer, Winans learned �what it was like to truly want,� he said.

�[The 30 Hour Famine] allows students to know what hunger feels like,� Smith said. �It also gives a sense of satisfaction. We know that 87 percent of the money we raise goes directly to those who need it.�

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