Countywide : 3-Day ‘Hunger-thon’ Planned to Underscore Cost of Weapons

The Orange County Alliance for Survival, a consortium of peace activists, will stage a three-day fast in May to dramatize the group’s position that money should be spent to eradicate hunger instead of on weapons programs.

Participants in the “hunger-thon” will live on bread, rice and water--the diet of much of the Third World. They will ask family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers to sponsor them on an hourly basis for as long as they fast, organizers said.

The anti-nuclear-weapons group said it will set up information tables on college campuses in Orange and Los Angeles counties. The fast is set for May 9, 10, and 11. The last meal of the fast will be taken during a rally May 11 at the Plaza of the Flags, in Santa Ana’s civic center.

“Thirty American children die per day from poverty,” said Marion Pack, executive director of the Alliance for Survival. “This could be eliminated by a public expenditure of $1.4 billion, less than the $1.5 million earmarked for 21 MX missiles.”

Pack was referring to recent votes in Congress for building 21 additional missiles. She said the money spent on the missiles could feed all of Africa for two years.

Sponsorship forms and additional information are available at the Alliance office, 200 N. Main St., Santa Ana. For further details, call 547-6282.