World Vision Taiwan held a meeting yesterday to call for college students to volunteer to help in its August "30 Hour Fast" event.
Event organizers said that they hoped for 700 volunteers. They are reaching out to college students, they said, because college students in general have more spare time during the summer months.
"We've contacted over 20 community service groups in 14 schools in the northern area of Taiwan. We hope that these groups will pass the message on to other schools and organizations to help us. We ask that volunteers give us 12 hours a week in the month and a half leading up to the event," said volunteer service division head Lin Yu-feng (
Lu Ta-feng (
"The 30 hour fast is a good way for college students to say that Taiwanese youth are service-minded," he added.
The 30--hour fast is organized by World Vision in countries all over the world each year. Participants go 30 hours without food to get a taste of what hunger is like. During their 30 hours, participants engage in various activities to learn about instances of hunger around the world. Money from participation fees then goes towards World Vision hunger-relief efforts.
This year is the 15th year that the event will have been held in Taiwan and will take place from Aug. 14 to 15 at National Taiwan University's (NTU) gymnasium.
The organization is hoping for 700 participants.
To learn more about the event or how to volunteer, see the World Vision Taiwan Web site at www.worldvision.org.tw or call (02) 2591-7488, extension 239.
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