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Tuesday, May 20, 2008
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Raising awareness BHS students react to suffering of Hondurans Staff Writer Seeing malnourished Honduran children and villagers was all it took for Brainerd High School senior Larry Libra.
Libra, who went on a missionary trip with The Journey North of Brainerd in February to Choluteca, said this region is one of the poorest in Honduras. Choluteca is in southern Honduras between El Salvador and Nicaragua.
Libra and two other students - BHS senior Nate Pelkey and junior Emily Holland - began a fundraiser, called "We Will Starve So They Can Eat," to raise awareness and money for the Choluteca people. The students are collecting donations, selling T-shirts and are fasting for the month of May.
"My goal is to suffer like they are, but not to that extent," said Libra. "Their experience is way worse."
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Brainerd High School seniors Larry Libra (left), Nate Pelkey and BHS junior Emily Holland recently talked about their fundraiser called "We Will Starve So They Can Eat." The students are raising money for the people of Choluteca, a region in Honduras. Brainerd Dispatch/Jennifer Stockinger
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The three students started out eating a cup of rice a day. The Hondurans eat an enriched rice with nutrients. Pelkey and Holland also drink two protein shakes and Libra drinks a cup of milk with vitamins in it each day.
Pelkey is the only one who is not eating the rice anymore because he can't keep it down. He now substitutes the rice with chocolate milk.
"I don't drink milk because I don't like it, but chocolate milk is tolerable," said Pelkey, who was eating 3,500 to 4,000 calories a day and has lost 13 pounds so far. Libra was eating 6,000 calories a day and he has lost about nine pounds.
"I never feel full," said Libra. "I don't have as much energy, but I still do all my activities."
Libra's involved in lacrosse and dance classes, including hip-hop, swing and tango.
Pelkey and Libra both work at McDonald's so they said it's tough to smell the food at work and not eat.
Holland said, "I'm a dancer so I eat 2,500 calories a day. I eat like every hour. It's so hard to fast like this. I started a week after these guys so they've done it longer. I'm not sure how much I've lost. I haven't checked."
Originally, there were eight students who were fasting, but many dropped out.
"It's torture," Pelkey said of the fasting. "But we have each other for support."
The students raised $1,100 so far. The students sell T-shirts that were made for a reduced rate by Great Plains Graphics and they collect donations during their lunch period. They also raise funds at area churches. A fundraising event is planned at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Light of the Lakes Church in Baxter where a musician from Nashville will perform.
People can make a donation by sending a check to Larry Libra at P.O. Box 58, Brainerd MN 56401 and write "We Will Starve So They Can Eat," on the check or by calling Libra at 821-1379 or Pelkey at 851-5461.
Libra and Pelkey said for every day they fast during the month of May, their football coach will donate $2 a day to each of them.
Money collected will help defray shipping costs of sending 285,000 meals of enriched rice to Honduras and into a fund account for World Gospel Mission, a Christian missionary agency that helps people in Honduras.
The students plan to meet at noon June 2 at Giovanni's to talk about their fundraising efforts. The public is invited.
JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.
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