Miami Herald - October 26, 2006
Yudy Pineiro, ypineiro@MiamiHerald.com

They were 53 of about 600,000 youth who will participate this year in the nationwide 30 Hour Famine, a program that World Vision, a Christian relief organization, began in 1992 with the goal to educate youth while raising money to feed the world's hungry.

"It's a profound experience to feel what a great amount of people are feeling and know you won't have to experience it for as long a time," said Karen Kartes, a World Vision spokeswoman for the 30 Hour Famine. "It changes the youth."

She said the $80 million the program has raised since its inception has helped develop thriving communities and feed some of the hungry in depressed areas in 100 countries.

Some World Vision estimates: One child dies every three seconds of AIDS or poverty. About 852 million people -- mostly women and children -- suffer from chronic hunger or malnutrition. And more than 1 billion people in the world live on less than $1 a day.

Using the World Vision formula that $1 feeds a child for a day, that means Miami Vineyard could feed up to 21 children for a year with the $7,800 it had raised by Monday.

The fast at Miami Vineyard Community Church, 14260 SW 119th Ave., began Friday and ended at 4 p.m. Saturday with a feast. Chicken, baked ziti, lasagna, and more was served.

Youth Pastor David Augustin said other than forcing the children to empathize with the world's hungry by starving them, he also had the teenagers participate in community outreach to emphasize the importance of recognizing local needs as well as global.

"My whole message is to inspire them to make giving a lifestyle," Augustin added.

Perhaps the most life-altering experience for the teenagers during the famine: Asking a homeless person on the streets of downtown Miami to share his or her story.

"At first they were reluctant to touch them, or look at them in the eye," said Roger Deza, the church's middle school pastor. "Then they realized they're people, too. Some of these people had good lives. They just made the wrong choices."

Andrew Stephens, 16, a sophomore at Palmetto Senior High School in Pinecrest, said speaking to the homeless drove home several messages, but chiefly, "stay in school."

Late Friday, Augustin showed the teenagers a video about starving kids in Uganda.

Shauna Parris, 13, a Richmond Heights Middle School student, said "It made us see how lucky we are. To not take anything for granted."

And for that one night, they slept like some homeless do -- in cardboard boxes.

Saturday morning, with their necks aching and sweat trickling down their backs after sleeping in the parking lot, they counted their blessings. And then set out to help.

They painted homes and planted gardens with Habitat for Humanity; played with children at Florida Baptist Homes, a foster-care facility; and lent a hand at an All Saints Day fair at Legion Park in Little Haiti.

Many say the hardest part of Saturday was driving by the fast food restaurants, knowing they couldn't stop to grab something to eat. Temptation hit hard. But they pulled through.

By 3 p.m., messy-haired teenagers -- drowsy and tired from two long days -- lay wrapped in blankets on the Youth Warehouse floors, played foosball, or caught up on e-mail.

Bottles of Gatorade and water littered the ground, chairs and pool tables. Stomachs grumbling, most said they couldn't imagine going another day without food.

"We just got a little piece of what these kids go through," said Cody Lorich, 17, a student at Coral Reef High School in Kendall.

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