CROP HUNGER WALKS ADDRESS HUNGER, POVERTY NATIONWIDE NEW YORK / ELKHART, IN - Feb 28 - The humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) announces the start of its spring season of community fundraising events - and their 60th Anniversary. Since 1947, Church World Service's CROP program has provided an effective means for individuals, congregations and communities to respond humanitarian needs worldwide. While CROP Hunger Walks have largely replaced the grain canvases of an earlier era, the goal remains the same: Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty. CROP Hunger Walks are held in some 2,000 communities across the country. They raise money for local hunger-fighting agencies as well as for the international relief and development efforts of CWS. The agency works globally through offices in South America, East Africa, Southern Africa, Pakistan/Afghanistan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Indonesia. CWS Indonesia is helping residents of Banda Aceh to rebuild their homes and livelihoods after the tsunami two years ago. In Pakistan CWS is working with the remote populations still affected by the massive earthquake and by overriding poverty. Many people are still in temporary shelters, with their men learning new trades to support themselves. CWS Vietnam has brought water and sanitation routines to schools and villages in the mountains. And in the vast Chaco region of South America, CWS is working with indigenous populations to establish legal claim to their ancestral lands and establish sustainable enterprises to support their communities. CWS also provides relief when disasters strike in the United States. CWS is a first-responder in domestic disasters, like the recent devastating storms in Florida. CWS is working with Habitat for Humanity to rebuild homes in the Gulf Coast and provided "care for the caregivers" workshops to the traumatized clergy and relief personnel who have worked throughout the Gulf Coast region. With up to 25 percent of the funds raised by a CROP Hunger Walks going to support local hunger-fighting efforts, CROP Hunger Walks gather churches, synagogues, mosques, school classes, and youth groups to help alleviate hunger at home and around the world. A United Nations' report issued this month states that some 18,000 children die every day because of hunger and malnutrition and 850 million people go to bed every night with empty stomachs, a "terrible indictment of the world in 2007," the head of the U.N. food agency said. James Morris called for students and young people, faith-based groups, the business community and governments to join forces in a global movement to alleviate and eliminate hunger, especially among children. CROP Hunger Walkers are dedicated people. One 94-year-old Walker in California has been participating for 28 years. One group in Indiana walked despite recent tornados. They walked through a rainstorm in San Luis Obispo, California. Walkers remember the millions of people around the world, who walk for water, for food, to get to school, to get to jobs. "We walk because they walk," is the motto of the CROP Hunger Walk. Local CROP Hunger Walks can be found by visiting www.churchworldservice.org /CROP or by calling 888-CWS-CROP. Contact:
Lesley Crosson Church World Service (212) 870 2676 lcrosson@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin - 24/7 - (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net