Douglas students participate in 30-Hour Famine
By Dylan Hackett, News Editor
This Friday, participants in the Douglas College chapter of the 30 Hour Famine will be sleeping over in the DSU building at the New Westminster campus. The team of fundraising fasters will begin their day and a quarter of foodlessness at 12:30 p.m. staying over in DSU building room 100A until 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
While the Famine is a World Vision charity event, this iteration of the event is entirely secular, with World Vision being picked as the fundraising recipient because of their high charity ratio and the fact that they provide all the pamphlets and promotional tools to participating groups.
“This event is secular, we are using World Vision as they have all the resources already set-up and they made it a lot simpler for us to proceed with our goals,” said Vladislav Evdaev, Famine organizer. “We are all students and most of us have jobs and are volunteering as well, so any help is welcome. Also, World Vision has one of the best charity ratings with about 85 per cent of all funds raised going to the cause.”
Organizers hope to raise $5,000 for World Vision causes against hunger and poverty worldwide, a goal Evdaev believes is reasonable.
“Students who are unable to participate in the famine can help by donating money and raising awareness of the cause and getting other people to get involved and raise funds,” said Evdaev. “Also, part of the cause is to get people to stop and think about the conditions that other people around the world are living in on a daily basis, and hopefully, even if they are unable to contribute or participate this time, the event will inspire them to get involved and help any cause they believe needs attention and help. One more idea I want to bring forth is that if every one of the 20,000 Douglas students would donate just a quarter that would add up to $5,000, which can go really far in Third World countries.”
Along with raising funds, the Famine aims for participants to experience the hunger of poverty first-hand.
“Fundraising was one of the goals of the Famine, with raising awareness and compassion being the other; I think sometimes we just don’t stop to think about different global issues and it is hard for us to place ourselves in other peoples’ shoes, or lack thereof, if we don’t even pause to think about them,” said Evdaev. “I really hope that participants of the famine will go on to help and donate to those in need after the famine ends, as the starvation and poverty is an ongoing issue.”
“I have never done the 30 Hour Famine before and feel that we in the developed Western world have the moral obligation to help those that are below the poverty line and are suffering as their basic needs such as water are not met,” explained Evdaev. “Individuals, kids in particular, are not in any way responsible or are in control for the fact that they were born into poverty. Even as students I believe we can spare a little bit of our money to help save someone’s life by giving them access to clean water and basic medications that can reduce suffering.”
