Fighting Hunger One Step At A Time

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.  Matthew 25:35

May 4 is the date for the annual CROP Hunger Walk in downtown Albany.  CROP is an interfaith hunger education and fundraising program of Church World Service.  The acronym CROP stands for Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty.  The first CROP Walks took place in the late 1960's.  Today nearly 2,000 communities throughout the United States hold fund raising walks each year, earning over $3.7 million for local hunger relief agencies, according to the Crop Walk website.

The Albany CROP Walk is sponsored by the Capital Area Council of Churches, an active interaith council in the Capital Region.  Last year some 700 walkers participated, raising $106,400 in pledges.  This made it the 8th largest Crop Walk in the country in terms of funds raised.  25% of the money raised went to Food Pantries for the Capital District, a coalition of 45 food pantries in Albany and Rensselaer counties.  The remaining money raised was used by Church World Service and partner agencies for relief and development programs in 80 countries.

The 2008 Crop Walk will begin and end at First Lutheran Church on Washington Ave. in Albany.  Walkers can take a 4.5 mile loop through the city with regular rest stops and refreshments.  There will be a shorter "Golden Mile" loop as well.  Walkers have obtained sponsors who give money pledges for each mile walked.

Church World Service is a cooperative ministry of 35 Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican denominations, providing sustainable self-help and development, disaster relief, and refugee assistance in some 80 countries.  Although neither Church World Service nor CROP Walk is an Episcopal charity, Episcopalians and their parishes have had a part in this charitable outreach since its beginning.

If you belong to a parish that already participates in Crop Walk, ask to sponsor someone who is walking.  If your parish does not already participate, go to the Church World Service website to locate the nearest walk, or to find out how to start one.  It's fun to walk, and does our Lord's work.

Comments

[Douglas J. Anderson]

I was in Albany for an Albany walk recruiter meeting last night. They made $106,000 for this #8 walk in the nation out of roughly 1,700 CROP WALKS. Come, good Episcopalians and all, come do what 3/4's of humanity MUST do every single DAY, just to SURVIVE - - - walking for firewood to cook tonight's meal, walking to a school, walking for medical care... Americans need to be in SOLIDARITY with this struggling humanity, at least ONCE a year. Put this on your blog, and have everyone contact the Regional Office, Doug Anderson, at danderson@churchworldservice.org, or call toll-free 1-888-CWS-CROP, 1-888-297-2767. We're here to educate year round. WALK WITH THE WORLD on May 4th!!
Douglas J. Anderson, Church World Service/CROP Upstate NY Regional Director.