The weekend after Queens’ Birthday (June 9-11) is an important fundraising time for many thousands of primary and secondary school students raising funds for World Vision’s 40-Hour Famine nationally. 

This year the focus, like last year, is on providing educational support for Syrian children forced to live in Jordanian Refugee Camps while civil war continues in Syria.

Our Logan Park 40 Hour Famine team have taken this issue to heart and organised a House Competition for the best student fundraisers at LPHS. After advertising the Famine events in recent assemblies, the World Vision student committee have been busy handing out many 40-hour Famine Sponsorship booklets for participating students. Then they decide what routine items or comforts they will give up for a sponsored 40 hours between Friday 9th and Sunday 11th June. Will it be breakfasts? Cell phone communications? The internet? Netflix Movies? Spending pocket money on music downloads? Sleeping in a comfortable bed? Being unkind to siblings? Messy bedrooms?

With prizes waiting in the wings, no doubt there will be some strong competition for the Best individual fundraisers and the best House to reach this year’s target, which is to provide at least 3 school spaces in Syrian Refugee camps.

Eleven students on the LPHS 40-Hour Famine committee have already prepared themselves by attending a World Vision Youth Conference for some background and training in March this year and we wish them well to meet fundraising targets for this year’s 40-Hour Famine.

One of the students, Aidan Downes, who attended the World Vision Conference gave some excellent feedback about why students needed to support the 40 Hour Famine:  As Nelson Mandela once said: "Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity; it is an act of justice." Similarly we are inspired to make a change for children escaping from the Syrian war.