October 4, 2000

CROP Walk takes steps to end hunger

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
       Is hunger still an issue in this country, with a booming economy and minimal unemployment? In northern Michigan, food pantries are finding that the last decade's economic boom and host of welfare reforms have not decreased the need for their services.
      "This is a great economy, actually there's more jobs in this community than there are people to fill them," said Dave Gibbons, a services coordinator with the Salvation Army in Traverse City. "But they are service-oriented jobs and it is very difficult for people to feed their families and pay their bills."
      Gibbons noted that last year, the Salvation Army's food pantry saw a 12 percent increase in services, with just a two percent increase so far this year. Not counting Christmas and Thanksgiving, the Salvation Army pantry serves between 300-600 people per month.
      Just one of a number of area food pantries serving the Grand Traverse region, the story at the Salvation Army facility reflects an ongoing need in the community to feed hungry people.
      "It is very easy to live in Traverse City, a very desirable place, and forget that hunger is here," said Gibbons. "The trend of people visiting our pantry is younger and younger people, with younger families. We've noticed a dramatic shift in this over the past few years."
      One way to help hungry people both locally and around the world is to participate in the 20th Annual CROP Walk this Sunday. Walk coordinator Lillian Tull invites people from the community who want to help others to participate in the six-mile walk this Sunday afternoon.
      The CROP Walk is a nationwide program, with different communities holding their fundraising walks throughout the year. The CROP Walk started in 1948 by a coalition of Catholic and Lutheran churches looking for a way to help feed hungry families in European countries devastated by World War II. The first 20 railroad cars of food culled from that fall's harvests where shipped that fall from Michigan. Money raised by CROP Walks around the country now help feed families worldwide.
      "I always refer to this as the 'grandmother of walks,'" Tull noted, who has been the local CROP Walk coordinator for eight years and involved for the past 19. "I got involved initially because I was looking for something to set an example for my daughter for volunteering in Christian service. I stuck with this one because it answers my needs and fits my family values."
      Communities around Michigan have hosted CROP Walks for the past 35 years. Locally, over the past 19 years, CROP Walk has raised $345,000 toward alleviating hunger in people of all ages.
      "Twenty-five percent of money we collected comes back here," Tull said. "This money is distributed to eight area pantries. It is a very small part of these pantries' annual budget, but it helps."
      In addition to the Salvation Army's food pantry, money raised from this Sunday's CROP Walk will go the following churches: Lake Ann United Methodist, Redeemer Lutheran, St. Patrick's, Immaculate Conception, St. Francis, Grace Episcopal and Kingsley United Methodist.
      This year, members of 24 different churches will be participating in the walk. Tull expects between 250-300 walkers, which has been the average for many years. This year she is excited by the large number of church youth groups who are planning to participate.
      The CROP Walk is open to anyone and begins and ends at the Grand Traverse Civic Center on Sunday, October 8. Registration begins at 1:30 p.m. and the walk will begin at 2 p.m. The walk will be held regardless of inclement weather conditions. For more information, call Lillian Tull at 946-1795.