40 Hour Fast Ends Friday, 3/6 with 30 People Having Fasted in Solidarity with Those Struggling in Economic Hard Times

Approximately 75 people attended the event on Wednesday, March 4th in Ithaca, sponsored by the Religious Task Force for a Living Wage to kickoff the 14th Annual 40 Hour Fast: A Public Witness Kickoff Event. In addition, 30 people declared their commitment to fast in solidarity with those struggling in the face of the current economic recession.

The goals of the 2009 40-Hour FAST were threefold, according to the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition (of which the Religious Task Force for a Living Wage is a member):

* To SACRIFICE from food so that moral and spiritual connections are deepened. The giving up of such a basic human need as food, if only for a few meals, can re-focus one’s priorities on the importance of the common good of all.

* To PRAY for public officials as they make the difficult budgetary, policy and regulatory choices that every day affect lives.

* To COMMUNICATE with the public and co-workers and elected officials about why you are fasting and why you believe that the common good requires an end to wage theft, a shrinking of the wage gap and increased attention to “the least among us.” Read more on this theme.