Slhs_12-15
Back to HomeFeature Article - April 19, 2012 30 Hour Famine 30 years at SLHSby Julie Druker
Photo: Over 60 students took part in the 30 Hour Famine at Sharbot Lake HS and together raised over $3100 for World Vision
Sharbot Lake High School has been participating in the 30 Hour Famine for going on 30 years now and is one of the few high schools in Canada that can boast that claim. The annual event raises funds for famine relief in Africa.
First started at the school in the late 1980s by a small group of students who ran the first famine for a world issues project, the event became popular with both students and staff. This year the famine took place on April 13/14 and over 60 students took part. Participating students collect donations prior to the event, which begins with a Friday morning breakfast at the school. The fast begins after the breakfast and ends at 3 p.m. the next day. Students spend the night at the school participating in a number of activities, which this year included sports activities, relay races, a famine trivia quiz and poster making. A school dance was also one of the evening's more popular events. This year the School to Community class prepared the soup meal at the school, which traditionally ends the fast on Saturday afternoon.
Students Nishan Kaillon and Sarah McCullough were part of the student committee who organized the famine, which this year raised over $3100. The funds will be used by the international charitable organization World Vision to help educate girls in Uganda. Nishan said the event is a popular one with students at the school. “The event has the ability to reach across boundaries and unite a large and diverse group of students for one common goal, which is not something you get to see every day."
Sarah McCullough spoke of how simulating a situation where food is unavailable to students for an extended length of time really helps them to understand the reality of food shortages in so many countries in the world. “By the end of the event people are really beginning to feel the effects of not eating over an extended length of time and they start to get an understanding of how that can affect you over the long term.”
Nishon agreed. “Famine is a regular occurrence in so many African countries and other countries across the world and is not something that we experience here. The point of trying to simulate that kind of situation, though a much less serious version of it, is to try to encourage empathy, since so many of us here never have had to experience a lack of food.”
For teacher Randy McVety, who oversees the famine along with Erica Kresin, Dave Gervais and other staff from the school, the event is one that is close to his heart. “We are very grateful for the support we receive from the school board, school staff and want to thank all of the students, who once again did a great job this year.”
