When Alex May woke up Wednesday morning, his mouth was dry.

He was thirsty.

“I brushed my teeth and felt like swallowing the toothpaste,” said May, senior in aerospace engineering.

But he didn’t.

May, along with about 70 others, went without eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset as part of the Muslim Student Association’s Fast-a-thon.

The Fast-a-thon is based upon businesses pledging money for students to fast, said Saddam Khattak, senior in computer engineering. The $400 raised will go to the Story County food pantry and emergency shelter. By 5:20 p.m., the smell of spicy foods caught the attention of the participants in the College of Design as they lined up with plates in hand, ready to eat.

“I’m really hungry,” May said.

May decided to participate in the fast because his neighbors in Frederiksen Court are from Pakistan and told him about the event.

“It is a good experience to see their religion,” he said.

This wasn’t the first time fasting for Dan Hilmers, of Ames.

“Fasting is not something that’s new to me,” he said. “It’s the going without water that’s new to me.”

Hilmers said he chose to participate for two reasons. The first was because he believed raising money for the food pantry was a good cause, he said.

As a member of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, the second reason was “to build a bridge to the Muslim community,” Hilmers said.

Andrew Garnett, senior in computer engineering, has also fasted before, but not given up water.

“I was really thirsty by the end of the day,” he said.

When breaking the fast with the traditional dates and milk, Garnett went for the milk first.

His decision to participate was “a spur-of-the-moment thing.”

“I learned a little more about Muslim culture and Middle Eastern cuisine,” Garnett said.

Ramadan lasts for 29 or 30 days, depending on the moon since it is based off the lunar calendar.

Garnett thinks he might be able to fast each day for that period of time. “It’d be really difficult for that long,” he said.

Muslim Student Associations nationwide have a Fast-a-thon, Khattak said, but this is the first year that the ISU group has hosted the event. For the first time hosting a Fast-a-thon, he said he was pleased with the results and called it a huge success.

“People of different faiths joined with us to fight hunger,” Khattak said.