High School Students Aim to Eradicate Hunger

April 13, 2011 - PRLog -- This week, hundreds of Naperville area high school students are teaming up to accomplish an astounding goal: to end world hunger.  In its third year, Food Fight, a creation of students attending Community Christian Church (CCC), is packing and shipping meals to people in need.

Food Fight was created in 2009 by a group of high school students who attended Blast, a weekend youth retreat sponsored by CCC.  They were inspired to dream big to change the world.  In 2009, students from two area high schools raised $17,000 and packed and shipped 100,000 meals.  In its second year, Food Fight had five high schools’ students participating, raising $35,000 and shipping over 200,000 meals.  This year, the six schools participating – Naperville Central, Naperville North, Waubonsie Valley, Metea Valley, Neuqua Valley and Yorkville – have raised approximately $60,000 and are packing and shipping 400,000 meals the week of April 11 through 16.

“We believe that hunger does not have a place on this earth,” co-leader Jacob Ives told CCC attendees at Sunday’s service.  “We are a movement of students who realize there’s something wrong with the world, and we refuse to wait for it to change.”

Throughout the year, the Food Fight leadership team and student volunteers execute various fundraising initiatives such as T-shirt sales, business solicitation, charitable asks, concerts and fundraising dinners to raise money towards the purchase of meals.  Once fundraising is complete, Food Fight secures the specially formulated meal ingredients from Impact Lives and brings them to local high schools where students participate in the meal packing process.  After the meals are packed, they are picked up by Food Fight business partners and delivered to hungry children in need.  Impact Lives ships meals to over 40 countries around the world as well as in the U.S.

Jacob Ives leads Food Fight along with co-leaders Sarah Leddon and Matt Bockenfeld, all of whom are District 204 high school student who attend CCC and participate in its StuCo student ministry.

“To me, Food Fight means that a generation of high schoolers can stand up and create a change in the world now,” Leddon explains.  “It means giving students an opportunity to become leaders in their communities.  It means doing something more important with your life than learning calculus or studying physics, which you will probably forget by next year.  Food Fight is important because it is the only charity of its kind, the only one that proves how selfless and powerful teenagers can be while fostering a unique community not divided by borders.”

Bockenfeld adds, “Food Fight to me means a call to action to change the world.  It means being young is not an excuse to do nothing, but rather an opportunity to impact the world.  Food Fight is important simply because we are creating an opportunity to bring hope to people who have never had any.  It is more than just providing food and saving lives; it is showing love to people who have never experienced it.”

Local businesses sponsoring Food Fight include Naperville Magazine, Sweet Tomatoes, Elephant, Two X Four, SPLNTR, La Sorella di Francesca, and Specialty Print Communications.

To learn more about Food Fight, visit www.foodfightforhunger.com.

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Community Christian Church is a nondenominational Christian church focused on helping people find their way back to God. To learn more about any of the programs offered through CCC, please call 630-388-5000 or visit www.communitychristian.org.