IRVINE : Youths Open Hearts, Pockets for Hungry

At first, the students who filled the University High School gym Tuesday seemed a bit skeptical.

A rally to kick off a monthlong hunger relief campaign had just begun and some of the 300 or so students in the audience continued to talk and even shout comments during the presentation.

But as the video images of starving African children flashed at them, and a classmate noted that the number of children who die there from preventable disease and starvation daily could cover the entire Irvine campus, the crowd began to slowly quiet down and pay attention.

By the end of the assembly, students formed lines around organizers who were handing out information.

The audience reaction didn’t come as a surprise to organizers, who believe high school students can play a crucial part in solving world hunger.

“I believe in high school students. They’re a tremendous untapped resource,” said Steve Tucker, chairman of the Irvine-based U.S. Students Against World Hunger and himself a parent of three University High students.

The University High rally was the organization’s first effort to mobilize support for its campaign against world hunger.

The centerpiece of the assembly was a 10-minute videotape that examined world hunger through footage of famine-stricken parts of Africa as well as recorded interviews with several University High students.

With rock music ringing in the background, the video contrasted footage of high school life with that of African villages, while students on the tape encouraged the audience to help fight the problem.

“I know we can do something about world hunger,” said Kenya Johnson, a student council member and one of the students in the video. “We can make a difference as minors.”

The program asks students to donate their lunch money once a week and to get sponsors to do the same. Every Thursday for the rest of month, organizers will come to the campus to take donations and sponsor such activities as concerts during the lunch period.

Tucker and his family developed the idea for the video and hunger relief program after he and his sons returned to Irvine from a visit to some of the most poverty-stricken parts of Africa.

“There was a great response from people,” Tucker said. “Parents, teachers, friends--everyone was excited about it.”

To help students better identify with the relief effort, 75% of the money raised at University High will go to two villages in Mali and Senegal. In addition, four students and one teacher who participate in the fund-raiser will be selected to travel to Africa later this year to see exactly how and where the money is spent.

“It was awesome. Something that really tugs at your heart,” said Henry Hayes, one of the students in the film.

Tucker said the program has received praise from the House Select Committee on World Hunger and that he hopes to take the program to other campuses soon.