30 Hour Famine Info
World Vision is a registered 501c3 charity. Not only are all individual donations tax deductible but many businesses will donate to 501c3 charities as well. If you would like to help your student to reach his or her fundraising goal for the 30 Hour Famine be sure to check with your Human Resource department to see if your company will donate to World Vision. In the past we have had corporate donors. Michigan’s place of work is donating again this year and your employer might also. The 501c3 or tax I.D. number for World Vision is 95-1922279.
I had a conversation with a parent on Sunday who wanted their child to participate in the 30 Hour Famine. However, this student has a medical condition that does not allow for fasting. That’s okay. Medically I am not able to fast from food either. I will be packing some meals for myself & quietly slipping into the kitchen when I need to eat. While the goal is to raise money to feed children around the world as well as give your student a little taste of what it is like to go hungry there are other things your child can fast from. You should have seen the look on this child’s face when mom mentioned fasting from their cell phone for 30 hours! It was priceless. Whatever your child chooses to fast from should be something challenging. What about giving up their cell phone for 30 hours? There will be plenty of adults & even other students with their phones to handle any emergencies. How about giving up all forms of social media for 3 days or even a week? Talk with your child & consider what might be their idol. What might come between your student & their relationship with Christ? That would be the perfect thing to use as their fast for the 30 Hour Famine.
Are you worried that your middle school student is too young & not capable of fasting? I can assure you that over the years I have seen many 6th or 7th-grade kids doing the 30 hour fast. This is an eye-opening experience designed to create empathy, compassion & draw your child closer to our amazing God. Don’t count your child out. If you are truly concerned you could send broth with your student but I know that if you encourage your student both of you will be surprised with the results.
It is a good idea to begin avoiding sweets the week prior to the Famine. Sweets are a Catch-22 that will cause your teen to crave more sweets as well as cause their blood sugar to get wonky making it more difficult to fast. They will feel hunger faster. Another recommendation is to not overeat the morning of the fast. Protein is a really good breakfast but if they cram their stomachs full of food they will notice the emptiness that much more.
Nearly 1 in 5 people in the developing world live on less than $1.25 a day. Just $35 will feed a child for a month. $425 will feed one child for an entire year!
Finally, you hopefully you have heard of the Youth leaders’ Kiss the Cow fundraiser. Please drop some change into the donation jars in the lobby. Paper money & checks work too. The person who raises the most money will get to kiss a cow. Photos of the cow kissing will be shown in church on March 20. Since the kids earn prizes based on the funds they raise each leader will draw the name of a student in their small group to get credit for the Kiss the Cow monies raised in their jar. To be eligible your student must have raised some funds for the 30 Hour Famine & participate in the Famine weekend. I know I would love, love, love to get a sloppy wet kiss from a cow so be sure to stuff my donation jar!
Lady Michigan (Stephanie Bukoffsky)
