CROP hunger events address hunger and poverty, locally and globally--for 60 years

NEW YORK / ELKHART, IN -- March 1, 2007 -- The humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) announces the start of its spring season of CROP community fund-raising walks -- and the 60th anniversary CROP events. Since 1947, Church World Service’s CROP community events have provided an effective means for individuals, congregations, and communities to respond to humanitarian needs worldwide.

While CROP Hunger Walks have largely replaced the grain canvasses of an earlier era, the goal remains the same: Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty. Some 2,000 communities across the country participate in CROP events each year, raising funds for local hunger-fighting agencies as well as for the international relief and development efforts of CWS. The agency works in partnership in some 80 countries globally, and has 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, and are learning new trades to support themselves. CWS Vietnam has brought water and sanitation 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 and recovery assistance when disasters strike in the United States. 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 in the U.S., CROP Hunger Walks gather churches, synagogues, mosques, school classes, and youth groups to help alleviate hunger at home and around the world.

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.

CROP Hunger Walkers are committed to raising funds and awareness to make a difference in the global fight against hunger and poverty. One 94-year-old Walker in California has been participating for 28 years. One group in Indiana walked despite recent tornadoes. They walked through a rainstorm in San Luis Obispo, California. CROP 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 CROP Hunger Walks.

Local CROP Hunger Walks can be found by visiting http://www.churchworldservice.org/crop/index.html or by calling 888-CWS-CROP.

Regional media contact: Toll-free 888-297-2767
Media Contact: Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
lcrosson@churchworldservice.org