HICKORY — More than 50 young people at St. Aloysius Parish took part in a 12-hour “food fast” in March – praying, fasting, and talking about how hunger impacts so many of our brothers and sisters right here in North Carolina and around the world.

The teens were served only water and apple juice during the Lenten retreat event. They took part in games, Bible studies and more. Discussions focused on the lack of clean drinking water in most countries. The young people carried around heavy buckets of water, trying not to spill the contents, to experience what it’s like to go find water each day in order to survive.

The 54 teens also brought in canned goods for the local food bank, Hickory Soup Kitchen. They concluded the “food fast” event with Mass.

“It is important that young people appreciate the importance of fasting and the problem of world hunger,” said Father Larry LoMonaco, pastor. “As Pope Francis has said, a billion people suffer from hunger around the world. We cannot look the other way and pretend hunger doesn’t exist. We have to do our part, whether it’s for our brothers and sisters in another country or right here at home.”

— Catholic News Herald