Walkers unite to help fight hunger
Every spring, 83-year-old Les Yates goes on a long walk to help raise money for the poor.
He hasn’t missed a CROP Hunger Walk in the last 25 years.
“We often hear about a lot of people who are going hungry,” said Yates. “Walking has been my livelihood and it’s what I can do to help.”
On Sunday, the Spokane resident will join hundreds along the Centennial Trail for the 29th annual gathering. Together, they’ll walk either 2 or 10 kilometers in an effort to alleviate poverty both locally and throughout the world.
“It’s about helping families with kids who go to bed on an empty stomach or who get up in the morning without having a decent breakfast,” said Joe Bruce, director of children’s ministry at Hamblen Park Presbyterian Church. “There are families in this community who have babies but don’t have money to feed them. … I’m motivated by these kids.”
A joint project of Church World Service and the Interfaith Council of the Inland Northwest, CROP Walk draws participants from churches of all denominations and faiths, as well as area businesses, colleges and schools.
Twenty-five percent of the money raised from CROP Walk helps the poor in the area through several organizations: Second Harvest Inland Northwest, Interfaith Hospitality Network of Spokane, Mid-City Concerns Meals on Wheels and Spokane Valley Meals on Wheels.
The rest goes toward Church World Service’s effort to help the poor in more than 80 countries throughout the world. Founded in 1946, Church World Service is the relief, development, and refugee assistance ministry of 35 Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican denominations in the United States. Known for its humanitarian works locally and overseas, Church World Services’ many projects include: helping residents of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, rebuild their homes after the deadly tsunami two years ago; assisting the victims of Pakistan’s earthquake as they learn new trades to support themselves; and working with Habitat for Humanity to rebuild homes in the Gulf Coast and providing “care for the caregivers” workshops to traumatized clergy and relief personnel.
Each day, more than 27,000 children die from hunger, malnutrition, dirty water, and preventable illnesses like diarrhea and malaria, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund.
About 2,000 communities across the United States sponsor a CROP Walk each year, according to Church World Service.
Last year, the CROP walk in Spokane raised $30,412, according to Elisa Pupo, the walk’s publicity chairwoman. Since 1979, walkers in the Spokane area have raised $532,775.
Entertainment and registration begins at noon – 1 ½ hours before the walk’s official start time. The event includes a performance by the Voiceless, a choir made up of homeless and previously homeless families, as well as a speech by Lynn Magnuson, Church World Service’s regional director for Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska.
It usually takes Yates more than two hours to complete the 10 kilometer walk. Although he remains in good shape from the decades he spent hiking up mountains for the U.S. Forest Service, Yates plans to do the 2 kilometer route for the first time this year. “I’m getting older so the shorter one sounds a little better,” said Yates, a member of Country Homes Christian Church.
Every year, Bruce of Hamblen Park Presbyterian Church makes an effort to recruit other church members to take part in the annual walk. In the past, he has been accompanied by as many as 10 to 15 children and their families.
Bruce hopes the CROP Walk will help kids at his church become more aware of the poverty in Spokane and the need to be generous. “Lots of kids out there in our community don’t have computers, TV or Nintendo,” he said. “They may not even have a roof over their heads to keep them dry. … It’s a message we, as adults, need to take away from this experience, too.”