SHAMOKIN - The youth group of Calvary Bible Fellowship Church, Second and Spruce streets, participated in World Vision's 30-hour Famine Feb. 24 and 25.
The youth group raised more than $4,100, while one teenager went door-to-door to collect canned goods for the Shamokin area food pantry, Manna For the Many, collecting 521 canned goods.
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families and their communities worldwide to reach their potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision provides hope and assistance to approximately 100 million people in nearly 100 countries. In communities around the world, groups join with local people to find lasting ways to improve the lives of poor children and families. Motivated by faith in Jesus Christ, they serve alongside the poor and oppressed.
Funds raised through the World Vision 30-hour Famine program will help feed and care for children around the world, with a portion supporting World Vision's efforts to assist families in need in the United States. To learn more about how funds are being used, visit 30hourfamine.org.
Here are four important numbers related to hunger statistics:
- More than 22,000 - That's how many children under age 5 die every day, most from preventable causes like hunger, poverty, disease or all three. That's approximately 9.7 million children each year.
- More than 11,000 - That's how many of those 22,000 kids (more than half) die from hunger-related causes. That's one child every seven seconds.
- 925 million - That's how many people don't get enough to eat. That's one of every seven people on the planet.
- 143 million - That's how many children under age 5 in the developing world are underweight because of poor nutrition. That's about one in three children in developing countries.
The Calvary youth group would like to thank the residents and managers of Lincoln Towers and Coal Township Elderly Housing for generously donating canned goods.