It was a well attended Crop Walk, this past Sunday, May 1, 2011 with clowns, kids, teens, adults and a running team.
The amount raised online, as of today, is $15,734.00. This is a growing amount and will continue to change as more donations are collected on the web.
Once the other monies are counted we will be able to give a final amount, most probably in the early fall.
In the meantime, thanks to everyone who made the day a success. There is a preliminary slide show on the website that you can see and get a flavor of the day, in case you weren’t there. Just click here to go to the page.
We look forward to more interesting stories about the day and about the walk that Church World Service does for people in the U.S. and around the world.
The Recruiters Meeting on March 20th was well attended and some good questions were asked. As a follow up here is a short video of do’s and don’ts for using the materials provided.
Thanks to all the people who attended the meeting. We appreciate your participation. We are off to a great start.
We issued a press release today for the walk. Here is the content:
News Release Re CROP Hunger Walk—Oak Park—5/1/2011
The Oak Park/Forest Park Area CROP Hunger Walk will kick off at 2:00 pm on Sunday, May 1 from Pilgrim Congregational Church on Lake St. in Oak Park.
Last year over 400 walkers from thirty congregations and organizations raised over $75,000 to put this area’s total for 27 years at over $1 million. 25% of the money raised remains in this area, going to agencies like the Oak Park-River Forest Food Pantry, Cluster Tutoring and PADS.
CROP is the fundraising arm of Church World Service, an ecumenical umbrella group which is right now consulting with Japanese officials regarding how to best contribute to the needs of people suffering from the recent earthquake and tsunami. Church World Service, like most relief agencies, partners with many other organizations and local officials to make sure that the right people receive the right kind of aid.
For more information or to sign up for the walk go to www.oakparkhungercropwalk.org or contact Pat Eichenold, this area’s CROP chairperson, at 708-848-5415
If you want more information or pictures, let me know and I’ll be happy to supply them. If you want to do a story on our CROP Walk, here are a few angles:
1. We topped $1 million last year for the 27 year total for this area.
2. We were the number one CROP Walk in Illinois and number 10 in the nation.
3. 25% of the money raised (last year $75,000) remains in this area going to agencies like PADS.
Most Pastors work hard at motivating their people to put their faith into action. That’s why many clergy like the CROP Hunger Walk.
IT’S ACTIVE
The CROP Walk gets people off their chairs and actively involved. One of the CROP aphorisms is, “We walk, because they walk.” In other words, many people in third world countries have to walk miles in order to get drinking water. By walking in the CROP Walk, not only is money raised to help drill wells and provide filtration systems, but it helps the walkers identify with the people they are serving. Simply writing a check doesn’t do this.
25% STAYS AT HOME
It’s much easier to motivate parishioners to participate when they learn that one quarter of the money raised will remain in their area. In our case, thousands of dollars last year went to West Suburban PADS and several local food pantries.
IT’S ECUMENICAL
While a pastor might not completely agree with the theologies of colleagues down the street, most clergy earnestly want to model love of neighbor, which of course includes people of other faith traditions. Last year we had Muslims, Jews, agnostics and many varieties of Christians all walking together in a common cause.
At a recent Leadership Day training, the Oak Park Hunger Crop Walk was recognized as the leading walk in Illinois with a certificate acknowledging that with our Best Year ever ($75,000) we went over the one million-dollar mark!
Our many thanks to all that made this possible. Your continued participation will made 2011 another banner year for feeding the hungry and providing hope to those in need.
While this blog is about the words that express what we do, this video will give you an in person expression about what this means and does for people around the world and here at home to foster their dreams of their future.
The Oak Park Hunger Crop Walk West, comprising of Oak Park, River Forest and Forest Park is pleased to post this blog.
Our goal is to keep you informed of our event and to raise money for the CROP Hunger Walk which is being held May 1, 2011.
In 2010 Hunger Walkathon West raised $75,020.78 to feed the hungry.
CROP Hunger Walks help children and families worldwide — and right here in the U.S. — to have food for today, while building for a better tomorrow. Each year some two million CROP Walkers, volunteers, and sponsors put their hearts and soles in motion, raising over $16 million per year to help end hunger and poverty around the world — and in their own communities.
Over the coming days and weeks we will let you know about the work all of us are doing to raise money for this amazing cause. We hope you will join us.
