2013 CROP Walk

The 2013 CROP Hunger Walk will take place on Sunday, April 28. Area churches work together through the CROP Hunger Walk to increase awareness of hunger issues and to raise funds for programs that address hunger both locally and throughout the world.

Last year, just under 1,500 CROP Hunger Walks raised $13.4 million to help end hunger locally and around the world. One quarter of the funds raised through these walks is used to strengthen local hunger prevention programs. The Second Harvest North Central Food Bank received the local 25 percent from the Grand Rapids Area CROP Hunger Walk. The other 75 percent is used by Church World Service for relief and development projects around the world.

Many churches have been involved in countless ways to address hunger issues over the last decades. CROP Hunger Walks have been happening for more then 50 years. Statistics indicate that all this effort has made a difference. Not only has the percent of the malnourished people in the world decreased significantly, but the actual number who died because of hunger and hunger related diseases has dropped to about half of what it was forty years ago.

Walkers for the Grand Rapids Area CROP Hunger Walk will gather at the United Methodist Church of Grand Rapids at on April 28 at 1:30 p.m. for registration and send off, with the Walk starting at 2 p.m. This year there will be options for walkers: a one mile, three mile, or the traditional six mile walk. Second Harvest and Voyagers Lutheran Ministries will be providing refreshments for walkers during and at the end of the walk.

For more information or to get CROP Hunger Walk material for a congregation, contact Rev. Loren Anderson-Bauer at 326-8508.