Local Churches and Organizations raise $10,500 for Global Hunger
More than 100 Northwest Suburban participants in the 50th Anniversary Crop Hunger Walk on Oct. 20 raised approximately $10,500 -- an increase of 57% over last year's walk -- for local food pantries and hunger alleviation throughout the world. Twenty-five percent of the funds went to local food pantries at Wheeling Township and Kingswood United Methodist Church.
Top fundraising churches included: Southminster Presbyterian Church of Arlington Heights, Lutheran Church of the Good Shepard of Prospect Heights and Christian Church of Arlington Heights. Other organizations participating included Kingswood United Methodist Church, Buffalo Grove; Lutheran Church of Martha & Mary, Mt. Prospect; First Presbyterian Church, Arlington Heights and Faith Community Homes, Arlington Heights.
"We are pleased with the support from our community this year to help stamp out global hunger and provide opportunities for families to live healthier, more prosperous lives, " said Jean Walker, Sandy Pifer and Cindy Greenwood, Crop Hunger Walk co-chairs from Southminster Presbyterian Church, hosts of this year's walk. "We extend a special thank-you to Beyond Self Storage, Trader Joe's and Mariano's for in-kind donations."
The one-mile and three-mile walks were followed by fun family activities, fall refreshments and music by Southminster's Central Road Praise Band.
The Crop Hunger Walk began in 1946 after WWII, when a group of U.S. farmers donated their crops to impoverished people overseas. CROP stands for Community Response to Overseas Poverty. For the last 50 years, the CROP walk has been doing more than just feeding people. The organization also provides fresh water wells, agriculture training programs, emergency relief, literacy programs and sustainable development for people in poverty in 43 countries around the world.
Donations can still be made at https://www.crophungerwalk.org/arlingtonheightsil/. A $15 donation provides 50 fishling for a freshwater pond; a $50 donation provides one month of food for a refugee family or 150 meals in a food bank; a $100 donation provides chickens for four families; and a $300 donation provides 50 families with a garden plot where they can grow their own food.