Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the national CROP Hunger Walk, the Hunger Walkathon West CROP Hunger Walk is setting big goals this year. The community hopes to raise more than $87,000 through walk participants and sponsors for long-term solutions to hunger.
The CROP Hunger Walk will take place on Sunday, May 5, with a 1 p.m. registration and a 2 p.m. start. The walk begins from Pilgrim Congregational Church, 460 Lake St. in Oak Park. To participate this year as a walker or sponsor, visit www.crophungerwalk.org/oakparkil
Hunger Walkathon West and some 800 other groups nationwide are joining together in interfaith CROP Hunger Walks around the theme “Stepping up to end hunger since 1969.” The CROP Walk was started 50 years ago by a group of energized young people in Bismarck, North Dakota who wanted to mobilize their community to fight global hunger. Today, the CROP Walk is a national movement raising funds for the global hunger-fighting work of Church World Service and local hunger-fighting agencies. Last year, over 800 events raised $8.3 million.
Last year, participants here generated $82,500 in donations to rate this walk among the top 10 Crop Hunger Walks in the country. A portion of the funds raised last year went to the hunger-fighting work of the Oak Park-River Forest Food Pantry, Forest Park Food Pantry, Pine Avenue Food Pantry, St. Martin de Porres Food Pantry in Chicago, First Baptist Food Pantry, Proviso Food Pantry in Melrose Park, Quinn Center of St. Eulalia Hunger Ministries, Housing Forward in Maywood, and the Cluster Tutoring Program serving the Austin Community.
Joanne Despotes and Martin Colchamiro
CROP Walk organizers
