Youth satisfy service hunger

Being hungry because it’s almost dinnertime is one thing; being hungry because your family is impoverished is something entirely different, as the St. Patrick School Builders Club, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, recently discovered. The club staged an eight-hour fast this past April, consuming nothing but juice and water and getting a taste of what hunger is all about.

The activity was part of the club’s fourth annual observance of Hunger Awareness Week. Other activities during the week included a food collection drive; a “dress down day” in which students could pay a dollar and wear their “not-so-fine” clothes to school; a hunger skit; food waste collection; prayer service; and volunteering at the Salvation Army soup kitchen.

“The purpose of this,” notes faculty advisor Janet DiNatale, “is to raise awareness about hunger in our community and around the world, and to raise funds to help worthy organizations that are dedicated to eliminating hunger.”

On the day of the fast, participating students ate lunch as usual. Participants then stayed after school to do fun educational and spiritual activities. The fast was then broken at 8 p.m. with a simple prayer and some bread and juice. All participants were required to submit permission forms signed by their parents and collect a minimum of US$10 in pledges.