Kicking off their 30 Hour Famine campaign, the Elk Valley Group known as Chasing Poverty made a plea to fellow students at Sparwood Secondary School, to hear their message and understand how deeply poverty can affect people and children. Chasing Poverty group members along with a little help from Principal Fran Kellington put together a series of videos and self wrote speeches to share what they are campaigning for. "Here in Canada, we may take the simple things for granted, having a roof over our heads and food, never mind all of the things we want that are our luxuries. There are people around the world who eat one meal a day and have no shelter, no pillow under their heads," explains group leader Libby McMenamon.
McMenamon explains to the crowd the four categories a 30 Hour Famine Group could be involved in, water, food, safety and education. "We chose education, because with education people gain knowledge and get better jobs to help themselves," she says.
The group of 30 Elk Valley students spent 30 hours, some 48 hours fasting, to experience a little bit of what other people face every day. The expect that they have reached their fundraising goal of five thousand dollars.