LDS Student Body Presidents Encourage Peers Statewide to Fight Against Hunger Through App

Danny Naylor and Raleigh Sorbonne, best friends attending rival high schools, have teamed up to help their schools come together and fight hunger in Utah.

Although Naylor and Sorbonne attend rival high schools, Olympus and Skyline, they hope to unite their schools—and the other schools involved—through a media teenagers are familiar with: social media and mobile apps.

Utah Hunger Games, the initiative the two seniors are spearheading, requires participants to download Time Machine and aims at raising awareness of hunger. Sorbonne explained that he hopes this event will help his classmates recognize the reality hunger in Utah. Sorbonne told LDS.net that he aspires to “raise awareness that one in five kids go hungry every day.”

Participants do not need to donate food or volunteer in order to participate in the Utah Hunger Games. Once individuals download the Time Machine app, they can select different activities associated with the Utah Hunger Games project and post a picture of them completing the activity. Each activity a student completes gets them closer to winning a free Costa Vida meal or Arvo watch.

Naylor and Sorbonne say they are leading the event by example. Naylor stated that the two will post things to social media and help organize the class presidents from other high schools to help spread the word, and hopefully help them reach their goal of 7,000 people participating.

The two friends have seen a positive reaction from their peers as many are excited and surprised that a service project is promoted through a mobile app. With teenagers today wasting so much time on their phones, Sorbonne said he loves how Time Machine gives teenagers something worthwhile to do through a means teenagers enjoy.

The Utah Hunger Games continues through September 30, 2015. Time Machine is now available for both Apple and Android devices.