Hungry, cold youths show solidarity with homeless
Students' 30-hour fast helps raise $7,000 for less fortunate
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

PHOTOSBYSCOTT PILLING staff From left to right: Allentown's Guliana Grossi (l-r), 15, and Saskia Hesselein, 17, decorate wooden crosses that symbolize the number of students the Allentown Presbyterian Church Youth Group will be able to sponsor this year at The Spring of Hope in Guatemala. C.J. Poliseno, 16, of Dover, Del., (l-r) visits with William Malsbury, 17, Alex Hrycak, 15, and Max Needell, 15, all of Allentown, at the Crossroads Youth Center in Allentown during the 30-hour fast the Allentown Presbyterian Church's Youth Group participated in last weekend.

Huddled together in groups of three or four, they tried to get some sleep in their cardboard boxes in the below-freezing temperatures on Friday night.

Twenty-four members of the Allentown Presbyterian Church High School Youth Group didn't just try to brave the cold but also went to bed hungry on March 2 while participating in a 30-hour fast to show solidarity with the poor and the homeless.

"It wasn't just cold, it was freezing," Katie Hulit, 16, of Allentown, said on Saturday night when explaining what it was like sleeping outside the night before. "It was a humbling experience to see what other people do every day."

Shannon Collins, 16, of the Cream Ridge section of Upper Freehold, said she barely got any sleep the night before. While students thought body heat would keep them warm, it did not, she said. She added that condensation on the bottom of the sleeping bags froze and made some people feel as if they had frostbite on their feet.

Dan Domenech, an elder and youth shepherd at the Allentown Presbyterian Church, said it was difficult for him to watch the kids suffer through a night out in the cold. Some of the teens couldn't tough it out, but many did, he said.

"It was below freezing last night, but a lot of people stayed outside," he said. "All of the kids have more of an appreciation for what homeless people go through."

By Saturday evening around 9:30 p.m., the youth group had been fasting for about 21 hours. Despite their self-professed hunger, members darted around the Crossroads Youth Center working on crafts, playing games and trying to keep one another's spirits high and focused on the project at hand. They wouldn't break fast until 6 a.m. Sunday morning.

Students were encouraged to drink plenty of water. Those who felt sick or extremely hungry were offered bouillon-flavored water.

Clutching a water bottle and waiting to go inside for the candlelight vigil in the church at around 10 p.m., Saskia Hesselein, 17, of Allentown, said, "It's about not being selfish. I'm hungry, but I'm trying not to think about myself and when I will be able to eat."

Hesselein said the fasting was made easier by talking to the adults and the other participants.

"Everyone else is hungry, so we are all in this together as a community," she said.

Hulit said, "A lot of us have been tempted to go down the street and get something to eat. We are so hungry."

Collins said the fast made her nervous at first, because she is someone who likes to eat regularly throughout the day.

"I eat every hour, so I got really hungry, but I toughed it out," she said. "In the morning, it wasn't hard for many of us, but by lunch time we were all looking at billboards with cheeseburgers on them and getting cramps."

During the fast, students traveled to Philadelphia to visit a community center where they listened to guest speakers discuss the needs of the less fortunate in their area.

While at the community center, Hulit met and spoke with a women who did not have the use of her legs.

"Despite doctors telling this woman that she will never be able to walk again, she is determined to walk," Hulit said. "She had an amazing spirit, and despite her condition she was thankful for everything she has."

When asked what she learned from the encounter, Hulit said, "To be grateful."

The 30-hour fast also offered the students insight into the trials of the less fortunate in other areas of the world. Participants collected funds from community members to contribute to The Spring of Hope, a school built by missionaries that offers education, food and family services to poor people in Guatemala.

Through sponsorships for the 30-hour fast, the students raised over $7,000.

Katie said, "It was great because we went around the community and asked certain individuals to donate money, but others were coming up to us. People in this community are so generous."

According to Domenech, for $75, one child in Guatemala can attend school for a year.

"It's all about educating kids who wouldn't get any education," Hulit said. "They don't get education down there past the eighth grade."

The youth group made and decorated wooden crosses to symbolize each of the 90 students they would be able to sponsor with the money they raised.

Hulit explained that the church organizes a group of between 18 and 29 people to go to help the less fortunate in Guatemala and other underdeveloped countries each year.

"The difference between this project and the missions in other countries is that we also realize that there is so much poverty in the United States that needs to be addressed," she said.

Collins said the 30-hour fast helps young adults get more involved with their own community.

"You get to know your neighbors and other people around that are in need, and you get to talk to them and let them know you care," she said. "They get to feel loved."

Domenech, who became a youth shepherd at the church three years ago, said the church, which has over 500 active members, has 200 kids involved in its youth ministry.

The mission of the youth ministry, which consists of youths of all different denominations, is to worship and serve God and to get young adults involved with one another, the community, and life issues in general, according to Domenech.

Collins, who has been involved in the church's youth group for about six years, said the youth group completes missions every month. To do so, the group partners with Homefront, a nonprofit organization in Trenton that helps families break the cycle of poverty; Allies Inc., a nonprofit in Hamilton that provides job development and other services to individuals with disabilities; and The Orchards at East Windsor in Cranbury, an assisted living facility, to complete community service projects.

"We do all sorts of community service, but the 30-hour fast is major because it takes an entire weekend," Collins said.

Hesselein said one of the most important lessons she's taking away from the experience is that "if you ask God to help you, He always will. He is with us through everything and He will always be there."

Hesselein said the youth group's participation in such a project "shows people what the youth of today can do."

"There are many young people acting out today, taking drugs and hurting others and themselves, but we know we can help change these things and we can get things done," she said.