Approximately 10 students will go without food for 30 hours all in the name of charity.

Antioch East Baptist Church has teamed up with a group called World Vision to take on the challenge of raising money for people in poverty near the Horn of Africa.

“Our students through the month of February are raising money for an organization called World Vision,” Student Minister Jon Gilliland said. “They are a Christian humanitarian organization that reaches our to impoverished communities around the world – to villages and people who are hungry and dealing with all kinds of issues of injustice and poverty.”

“Overcome Hunger” is the theme of the year as the students will start the fast after lunch on Feb. 24. From there, the students will go to the church that evening and participate in activities.

“We’ll be together for 24 of their 30 hours,” Gilliland said. “We’ll have all kinds of activities for them to do to learn about hunger. The service project is on Saturday and we’ll conclude the weekend with a break-the-fast meal Saturday night at 6:30 p.m.”

The group’s goal is to raise at least $1,800 with the knowledge that every $30 raided can help feed and care for a child for a month, Gilliland said.

Gilliland said that the famine situation has affected the Horn of Africa for a little more than a year and has affected about 10 million people.

“The point of it all is obviously to raise money to help alleviate some of this suffering that is going on,” Gilliland said. “(World Vision doesn’t) just drop food off from the sky, but they teach these people sustainable sources of food. They equip them with greenhouses, irrigation systems, wells and all kinds of stuff that they can help them thrive.”

The hope is to not only reach out to the affected areas, but to also teach youth that there is more to life outside of Greenville, Gilliland said.

“The second point is to open our students’ eyes to the rest of the world’s issues of poverty and injustice that goes on,” Gilliland said.

Those interested in donating to World Vision can visit the website at support.worldvision.org/goto/aebc or send a check to Antioch East addressed to World Vision.

The group plans to have the Website up and running for about two weeks after Feb. 25.