Fasting for Change: Fighting World Hunger
October 10, 2025
Fasting for Change: Fighting World Hunger
October 10, 2025
The students in Grades 7-9 at Lacombe Christian School have been going hungry. In the 2024–25 school year, the students participated in a 30-hour fast, an undertaking designed to challenge them to experience hunger firsthand, as they learn about and then work to answer God’s call to feed the hungry. The school hosts the fast for two consecutive years, then pauses for one year to keep the experience fresh and sustainable, ensuring that every middle school student participates twice during their time in Grades 7–9.
After careful consideration of our mission to share Christ’s hope with families facing hunger and poverty, the school decided to partner with World Renew. World Renew offers a FastForward Challenge with supporting resources. The school used pledge forms and streamlined donation collection—primarily through cash and e-transfer—making the process efficient and easier to run.
The school’s FastForward event begins with a kickoff chapel where students watch videos showing both the harsh realities of famine and the tangible ways their fundraising efforts make a difference through World Renew’s work. The students then enjoy their “last meal” provided by the student council, sometimes pasta, pizza, or hotdogs, before the fast begins at 1:00 PM. They go home and experience the challenge of skipping snacks and meals, often while watching their families eat dinner and breakfast without them. The following day is a regular school day, but after classes, students gather for a wrap-up celebration featuring games, music, and even inflatables. At 7:00 PM, parent volunteers serve a “break-the-fast” meal, which has evolved from a traditional rice dish to a light breakfast-style meal to ease students back into eating food. Then, they head home to enjoy regular meals.
The goal is to make the event engaging while preserving its purpose of helping students understand what hunger feels like and why their efforts matter. As organizer Michele Noort, a Grade 9 teacher, explains, “We try to make our event desirable to do but also to keep in mind that it should not be easy; this is how many people live.” Their efforts are truly making a difference, and in 2024-25, students raised an incredible $11,457 CAD, all directed toward World Renew’s World Hunger initiatives.
Students shared powerful reflections on their experience this past year. Hunter said, “I did the fast because it would help people who didn’t have 3 meals a day like we do.” Brogan, another student, added, “It sounded fun and I like raising money for other people.” A group of female students described the fast as both challenging and eye-opening—they enjoyed the activities, came to a better understanding of real hunger, and realized how difficult it can be to go without food, when having food is something we often take for granted in North America.
These voices remind us that the FastForward experience is more than a fundraiser—it’s an opportunity for students to step into the reality of hunger and answer God’s call to respond. As Isaiah 58:6-7 reminds us:
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”
Your church, school, or community group can join the fight against world hunger! Whether you choose to host a FastForward event like Lacombe Christian School, hold a church offering for World Hunger, or create your own unique fundraiser, every effort helps provide food and hope to families around the world.
The students in Grades 7-9 at Lacombe Christian School have been going hungry. In the 2024–25 school year, the students participated in a 30-hour fast, an undertaking designed to challenge them to experience hunger firsthand, as they learn about and then work to answer God’s call to feed the hungry. The school hosts the fast for two consecutive years, then pauses for one year to keep the experience fresh and sustainable, ensuring that every middle school student participates twice during their time in Grades 7–9.
After careful consideration of our mission to share Christ’s hope with families facing hunger and poverty, the school decided to partner with World Renew. World Renew offers a FastForward Challenge with supporting resources. The school used pledge forms and streamlined donation collection—primarily through cash and e-transfer—making the process efficient and easier to run.
The school’s FastForward event begins with a kickoff chapel where students watch videos showing both the harsh realities of famine and the tangible ways their fundraising efforts make a difference through World Renew’s work. The students then enjoy their “last meal” provided by the student council, sometimes pasta, pizza, or hotdogs, before the fast begins at 1:00 PM. They go home and experience the challenge of skipping snacks and meals, often while watching their families eat dinner and breakfast without them. The following day is a regular school day, but after classes, students gather for a wrap-up celebration featuring games, music, and even inflatables. At 7:00 PM, parent volunteers serve a “break-the-fast” meal, which has evolved from a traditional rice dish to a light breakfast-style meal to ease students back into eating food. Then, they head home to enjoy regular meals.
The goal is to make the event engaging while preserving its purpose of helping students understand what hunger feels like and why their efforts matter. As organizer Michele Noort, a Grade 9 teacher, explains, “We try to make our event desirable to do but also to keep in mind that it should not be easy; this is how many people live.” Their efforts are truly making a difference, and in 2024-25, students raised an incredible $11,457 CAD, all directed toward World Renew’s World Hunger initiatives.
Students shared powerful reflections on their experience this past year. Hunter said, “I did the fast because it would help people who didn’t have 3 meals a day like we do.” Brogan, another student, added, “It sounded fun and I like raising money for other people.” A group of female students described the fast as both challenging and eye-opening—they enjoyed the activities, came to a better understanding of real hunger, and realized how difficult it can be to go without food, when having food is something we often take for granted in North America.
These voices remind us that the FastForward experience is more than a fundraiser—it’s an opportunity for students to step into the reality of hunger and answer God’s call to respond. As Isaiah 58:6-7 reminds us:
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”
Your church, school, or community group can join the fight against world hunger! Whether you choose to host a FastForward event like Lacombe Christian School, hold a church offering for World Hunger, or create your own unique fundraiser, every effort helps provide food and hope to families around the world.
