For many people, the time before Easter often includes fasting. Two members of the Holy Trinity Memorial Lutheran Church youth group - Riley Knecht and Emily Suter - gave new meaning to fasting with their mentor, Diane Czar. On Easter weekend, the three of them fasted for 30 hours to raise funds for World Vision to help address hunger around the world.

“We have a program that supports personal development and helping,” said Czar, who has been leading youth in the 30-hour famine for more than 25 years.

“I’ve been part of the fast for five years, and I live what we learn in these sessions,” Emily said.

Along with activities that raise awareness about hunger, the participants end their fast with a dinner that includes rice and plumpy nut - a fortified peanut butter mix used by World Vision to feed severely malnourished children.

“We are mindful that, during our 30 hours, we know we will soon eat all that we want, while the children we support do not have that luxury,” Czar said. “Our church does a lot for the Catasauqua community. Our Morning Glories women’s group supports many service agencies in the Lehigh Valley. I think it’s important our youth learn about the needs of the severely impoverished in the world community.”

One of the projects during their 30 hours together was tying fleece lap blankets. The design comes from the mind of Christy Alvord.

“Seniors enjoy the blankets. We made some for the local nursing homes,” Alvord said.

The project is sponsored by Thrivent, a nonprofit financial firm. One way Thrivent helps its partners is by providing for up to $250 for many of the dinners and other events hosted by Holy Trinity.

Czar, Emily and Riley sought sponsors for this year’s fast. They raised $2,500 - well above their goal.

The funds go to World Vision for its work in many countries, including the United States. World Vision has a sponsor program, and Holy Trinity’s youth group has been sponsoring a child through Vision World for about 10 years.

The group currently supports Linathi Ventshu, a 13-year-old in South Africa. The youth group usually raises funds for this cause with a Victorian tea and basket raffle. The tea was canceled for this year, but the group was expected to host a kid-friendly raffle May 16.

All of the proceeds from the raffle will be earmarked for the group’s monthly commitment to Linathi.