Hungry today, wiser tomorrow

Local teens fast for 30 hours, collect food for local pantries Vernon - From 6 a.m. Saturday until noon on Sunday, forty kids learned firsthand what it feels like to be hungry. “There is an awareness. They know there is hunger in this community,” said Diana Damstra, coordinator of ministries at the Vernon United Methodist Church. “The only way to empathize is to walk in their shoes, even if it’s just a fleeting moment.” The Glenwood Baptist Church and the Vernon United Methodist Church joined forces to host the first “Fast for 30” to help raise awareness and feed the hungry in Sussex County. Most of the kids who participated weren’t even members of either of the churches, said Damstra. They heard about it from their friends and wanted to be a part of the community’s first strictly local youth fast. They had unlimited water, and scheduled Gatorade breaks. “It was hard,” said Damstra. “When you don’t eat for 30 hours, you become lethargic. It affects your ability to think clearly. It affects your mood. We did fine, they played games — but yes, everyone had their moments. One topic that kept coming up was our favorite foods.” Notwithstanding empty stomachs, the kids had a busy weekend: they served Saturday breakfast to seniors at the Senior Center in Vernon; held a food drive at the Vernon A&P, which yielded eight or nine cart-loads of food to be distributed from the Vernon United and Glenwood Baptist Church food pantries; and performed a concert at Glenwood Baptist Church. Sunday morning, the kids had “breakfast” together: they got empty plates, on which they wrote their prayers for those in need. In the 29th hour, they led a musical Sunday morning worship service at the Vernon United Methodist Church.