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Published: Monday, October 9, 2006

Walks aim at ending hunger

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The Cortland walk will be held Sunday.

By AMANDA GARRETT

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

WARREN — Hundreds of Mahoning Valley community members are putting on their walking shoes this fall to raise money to end hunger.

The Ohio chapter of the Church Outreach Services sponsored CROP walks in several area communities, including Warren, Hubbard and Lisbon. CROP is an acronym for Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty.

The Church Outreach Services is an ecumenical Christian organization that is working to end hunger in the U.S. and abroad.

Every year the outreach services sponsor more than 2,000 walks in cities and towns nationwide.

CROP events were begun almost 60 years ago, with the collection and shipping of grain contributed by Midwest farmers to help feed starving people in devastated post-World War II Europe and Asia.

In 2005, some 2,000 communities across the country participated in CROP Walks. Over the past 20 years, CROP Hunger Walkers have raised more than $270 million.

Africa is one part of the world where walk funds are making a difference, said Karolyn Shockey, coordinator of this year's CROP walk in Cortland.

Other goals

In addition to providing food for hungry families, Church Outreach Services is working to provide clean water, medicine and schools for Africans.

This year, Church Outreach members are focused on the war-torn Darfur region in the Sudan and Kenya, which has suffered from an extreme drought.

Walk money has also helped the victims of the hurricanes in the U.S. Gulf Coast, Shockey said.

"Church Outreach Services was in the Gulf Coast the day after Hurricane Katrina struck, and they're still there," Shockey said.

In addition to its national and international efforts, 25 percent of the money from each walk will go to local food pantries.

Walk planned in Cortland

The next area CROP Walk will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday at the United Methodist Church in Cortland.

The Cortland walk usually draws 150 to 200 people from Howland, Cortland, Champion and Bazetta and raises between $6,000 and $7,000, Shockey said.

Participants can either go on a 2-kilometer or a 10-kilometer walk around the residential area of Cortland.

Shockey has been participating in CROP walks for more than 25 years.

"Every October when I get up in my church to talk about the walk, the congregation knows what I'm going to say before I say it," she said. "It's where my heart is."

agarrett@vindy.com

Monday, October 9, 2006