Community mobilizes to fight hunger amid cuts to food assistance with Elgin Area CROP Hunger Walk

A local interfaith event is mobilizing to keep food on tables and sustain global lifelines amid deep cuts to SNAP/Medicaid and foreign assistance.

The Elgin Area CROP Hunger Walk will take place on Sunday, Oct. 19, to help neighbors facing hunger around the block and around the world. With recent cuts to federal nutrition, health care, and humanitarian aid programs, organizers say this year’s walk is more urgent than ever.

The planning team has set a goal of 150 walkers and $40,000 raised. A quarter of the funds will support Elgin’s Soup Kettles and food pantries, with the balance supporting Church World Service programs worldwide.

To sign up for the Elgin Area CROP Walk, go to crophungerwalk.org.

Across the United States, reductions to key safety net programs including SNAP (food stamps), Medicaid, and the Child Tax Credit are pushing more families to seek help from community food programs. At the same time, the withdrawal of U.S. foreign assistance has shuttered lifesaving services abroad, leaving organizations like CWS to keep vital food, health, and shelter programs running in refugee and crisis-affected communities.

“The abrupt halt of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the freezing of foreign assistance will have dire consequences for many of the communities where CWS is at work,” said Jon Skogen, National Community Event Manager at CWS. “These policies will leave a vacuum in critical services. In some locations, CWS will be the only organization providing humanitarian assistance. The annual CROP Hunger Walks raise significant funds which are a critical foundation for all the work at CWS.”

What the CROP Hunger Walk makes possible

• Here at home: Funds help stock local food pantries and meal programs, support refugees and newcomers facing hunger, and bolster agencies strained by increased need following cuts to federal nutrition and health programs.

• Around the world: Donations sustain emergency food assistance, health care access in refugee settings, climate-smart agriculture, and long-term solutions that strengthen food security when public funding is withdrawn.

Around 20 churches and community groups are expected to participate. Last year, 100 Walkers raised $29,000 through the Elgin CROP Hunger Walk. Organizers hope to surpass that total this year to meet the growing need.

About CROP Hunger Walks

For more than five decades, CROP Hunger Walks have united neighbors of all faiths and backgrounds to raise funds and awareness to end hunger. Walks support local hunger fighting partners and the global work of Church World Service, a global humanitarian and development organization working with communities to end hunger and poverty, respond to emergencies, support refugees and asylum-seekers, and build a more just world for all. Learn more at cwsglobal.org.