Get Your Teams Ready for the CROP Hunger Walk

Members of area churches are hoping community members will join them in their quest to end hunger, one step at a time, in the third annual CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walk Saturday, Oct. 8.

Registration for the event will begin at 9 a.m. at the Romeoville Recreation Center at 900 W. Romeo Road. The walk will start at 10 a.m. and end at Lake Strini in at 524 Belmont Drive. Walk participants may choose a one-mile or three-mile route.

CROP walk organizers are encouraging walkers to collect donations from friends, family, neighbors, coworkers and businesses, with 25 percent of the proceeds benefitting the Shepherd’s Pantry at in Romeoville and 75 percent going to Church World Service.

From helping women in Kenya build sand dams for holding rainwater to sending cleanup buckets, food supplies and blankets to recent victims of Hurricane Irene in the U.S., Church World Service works to eradicate hunger, promote peace and justice and support sustainable grassroots development, disaster relief and refugee assistance throughout the world.

According to Teresa Linaweaver, a local CROP walk organizer, funds collected by walk participants also have a direct impact right here at home. She said last year’s event collected $2,500 for the local Shepherd’s Pantry, which is a joint effort of United Presbyterian Church and Good Shepherd. And, with the number of Romeoville-area residents visiting the pantry during distribution time from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturdays, it costs $500 to $600 per month just to keep the shelves stocked, Linaweaver said.

As a teacher’s aide at , Linaweaver has seen the impact lessons about poverty and hunger have on students. She hopes participation in the CROP walk will reinforce those lessons and spread the message throughout the community.

“They get it,” Linaweaver said of the middle schoolers. “When they learn that there is enough food to feed everyone in the world, they wonder why people are still starving. If we can just teach them … they are the hope for the world.”

The goal of CROP walk organizers is to get as many sponsors and walkers involved this year as possible — with each participant raising as much as he or she can, whether in person, by e-mail, Facebook, yard signs or other creative media.

“The suggested amount (per walker) is $30, Linaweaver said. “But even $1 helps.”

For more about the Romeoville CROP Hunger Walk, visit www.cropwalk.org or contact Linaweaver at Good Shepherd Church at 815-886-4354 or on her cell phone at 815-342-7090.