On Sunday, September 26th, I participated in the annual CROP walk. The length of the walk was just six miles, and the goal of the walk was to raise money to provide help for people who don’t have enough to eat. I truly love food and I don’t think that it’s right that anyone should have to go without. I believe that there is enough for everyone! Anyway, I am pleased to report that, in two weeks, I was able to collect $217 in pledges from 24 wonderful people!
I participate in the CROP walk regularly, and I always enjoy the experience. It’s really nice to have companions on a walk. Frequently, I walk by myself. I enjoy the opportunity to get to know other people. During this CROP walk, I had the chance to get to know Cathy Rieley-Goddard. She is the co-pastor of Riverside-Salem United Church of Christ. Her church is very much focused on improving the environment. In fact, her church isn’t even called a “church”; it’s called an “environmental chapel. The most recent thing that they have done is to build a straw bale structure behind the environmental chapel. I spent much of the summer weeding the labyrinth next to the chapel so I got to watch the construction of that structure. It was very interesting. It is a small structure but well packed with straw so I am guessing that it is well insulated for cold weather, which, alas, is coming. I say “alas” because I really don’t like being cold.
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| The Golden Sneaker was the prize for the church group that brought the most pledge money to the walk. The sneaker formerly was seen on the feet of Father Earle King. |
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| Father Earle King of Saint Martin in the Fields Episcopal Church gets ready to bless the walk. Since he no longer wears The Golden Sneaker, he has obtained another pair of shoes. |
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| Town Board member Dick Crawford reads the town’s proclamation honoring this year’s CROP walk. |
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| On your mark! Get set! Go! The CROP walk begins! |
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| These two ladies provide smiles, apples, and water halfway through the CROP walk. |
But I digress. The CROP walk. I always wondered what CROP stood for. My mother asked me and, for sure, I was clueless. So I thought that I would “google” CROP. This is what I found out: “When CROP began in 1947 (under the wing of Church World Service, which was founded in 1946), CROP was an acronym for the Christian Rural Overseas Program. Its primary mission was to help Midwest farm families to share their grain with hungry neighbors in post-World War II Europe and Asia. Today, rather than thinking of CROP primarily as an acronym, we retain it as the historic name of the program. CROP Hunger Walks are interfaith hunger education and fundraising events sponsored by Church World Service and organized by CWS/CROP regional offices across the United States.” (Church World Service website)
Of the funds that were raised in the CROP walk, twenty five percent are being used in the local community, and the rest go to the Church World Service for its programs.
(note: As of this date, I do not know the total amount that was collected for the Grand Island CROP walk. As soon as I learn the total, I will amend this blog.)
