Wars and natural disasters all over the world dominate the daily headlines but behind the scenes and far from the spotlight, hunger and preventable diseases claim the lives of 29,000 of the world's children a day, according to information from World Vision.

More than 850 million people around the world do not have enough to eat. Annually, more than 10 million children under the age of five die from disease and malnutrition as a result of hunger. But world hunger is 100% preventable and 50 teens from Delphi, Flora, and Bringhurst United Methodist churches are ready to be a part of the solution.

On Saturday and Sunday, these teens will be joining the efforts of hundreds of thousands of young people all over the nation who will set aside the usual "stuff" that fills their daily lives. Instead, they will "Be Hungry" - the theme for World Vision's 30-Hour Famine this year - by going without food for 30 hours to get a taste of what the world's poorest children and families face everyday.

Prior to the event weekend, students raise funds with the knowledge that every $30 they raise can help feed and care for a child for a month.

"The 30-Hour Famine has a lasting impact, not just on the children and families receiving lifechanging food and care, but also on participants who view their own potential to affect change very differently afterward," said Debbie Diederich, national director of the World Vision 30-Hour Famine.

Funds raised by 30-Hour Famine participants help feed and care for children in poverty-afflicted countries around the globe. 30-Hour Famine funds contribute to World Vision's response in areas where famine, conflict, and other crises make children vulnerable to hunger and preventable disease.

Since 1992, 30-Hour Famine has raised more than $100 million. World Vision works in 100 countries, helping approximately 100 million people every year.