Lessons to be learned from Cardunal CROP walk

With the slumping economy and people struggling all over to make ends meet, Holly McNeill of West Dundee said there was no better time to teach her young daughter Mary about giving back.

"More than ever, people need hope and everyone is hurting financially," McNeill said.

The McNeills hail from West Dundee and were two of roughly 100 people who turned out Sunday for the 25th annual Cardunal area CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walk, which this year was held at Joy Community Presbyterian Church in Lake in the Hills.

Cardunal stands for Carpentersville, Dundee, Algonquin and Lake in the Hills and the event corralled churches from those areas. Parishioners from the following eight churches were represented in the one or 3.2 mile walk.

• Congregational Church of Algonquin

• Trinity Church in Carpentersville

• First United Methodist Church in West Dundee

• Faith Community Church in Huntley

• St James Episcopal Church in West Dundee

• First Congregational Church in Carpentersville

• First Congregational Church of Dundee, in West Dundee

• Joy Community Presbyterian Church in Lake in the Hills.

Twenty-five percent of the proceeds will go to support the FISH pantry in Carpentersville and the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Interfaith Food Pantry.

It was the first time for the McNeills, who attend church at First United Methodist in West Dundee.

Mary, 6, was eager to get started on the one-mile course and kept asking her mother to stop talking to me and to get walking.

But McNeill wanted to make sure her little girl understood the meaning of what they were about to do.

"I think it's a wonderful way to teach children to think about other people and do something proactive to help people in need," she said. "It's about being selfless. It's a way to show her faith and humanity."

Over the course of 25 years, the walk has raised more than $221,900 in the war against hunger.

Twenty-five percent of the funds go to the FISH Food Pantry in Carpentersville and the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Interfaith Pantry.

The balance will support Church World Service, which doles out money to agencies working to end hunger and poverty nationally and abroad.

Last year, 86 walkers raised $8,000 toward those efforts, said Sue Mazur, one of the event's organizers from Joy Presbyterian.

Tallies weren't yet available for this year's walk.

"Hopefully we will beat our $8,000 for this year, that's the plan," Mazur.

If you would like to donate to the Church World Service, visit www.churchworldservice.org/opportunities.html.

•Lenore Adkins covers Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, McHenry County College and Pingree Grove. To reach her, call (847) 608-2725 or send an e-mail to ladkins@dailyherald.com