About 30 students took part in a 24-hour fast on Friday and Saturday to better understand the lives of people living in poverty around the world.
The event was part of Raise Your Voice Month, put on by the Black Student Union Leadership Development Institute and a service organization called ACTIONS.
Archie Moss, the event's coordinator, said he got the idea from a 30-hour fast he participated in during high school.
Moss said during the fast in high school, he also slept outside on a cardboard box.
However, university restrictions prevented this from happening for this event.
A documentary called "Hear Our Voices: The Poor on Poverty," was shown to kick off the fast.
"It traveled around the world and showed the disparity in places like Brazil, parts of Africa and India," Moss said.
The next day, the fasting students met at 9 a.m. in the Plaza of Americas for a scavenger hunt around Gainesville, which focused on local poverty issues.
Moss said the group split into four teams to perform service projects for small businesses. They also bought lunch for and spent time with homeless people.
"One group even put their own money together and bought pizza and sodas for a huge group of people," Moss said. "Most people thought this was the most rewarding part of the activity."
Once the scavenger hunt was completed, the groups reunited in the Plaza of the Americas to wait out the remainder of the fast.
"By that time everyone was really, really hungry and just wanted to eat," Moss said. "Everyone was restless."
In order to pass the time during the last few hours, Moss said games were played. This was when he began to have a better appreciation for what he already has, he said.
"We were complaining because we were hungry, and we knew we were getting fed at the end of it," he said. "Most homeless people don't have the ability to know when their next meal will be."
Moss hopes the 24-hour fast will become an annual event and will be larger in years to come.
"I was happy everyone got something out of it," he said. "Hopefully it'll be seen in Gainesville over and over again."
