<rleton students joined a group of about 250 people on Sep. 30 for the fifteenth annual Northfield CROP walk. CROP Hunger Walk is a national hunger-awareness walk sponsored by the non-profit association Church World Service (CWS) and organized by local communities to alleviate hunger and poverty.
According to Gabe Keller ’13, one of Carleton’s student organizers of this event, “The walk itself is a joyful event bringing together families and students from Northfield’s congregations and colleges in a march through town that reminds us that many people have to walk long distances to get water and food.”
While the walk mainly supports CWS’ many national and international projects, local Hunger Walks can choose to return 25% of the funds to CWS Community Action Centers to help alleviate poverty issues in their own communities. This may include funding for emergency housing assistance, the Food Shelf, Clothes Closet and job training.
Douglas Totten ’16 said that participating in this walk was “a way to live out my faith.”
He continued, “I’ve always felt education is just as important of a goal for every individual walk as raising funds. Otherwise our generation and future ones will not respond to the horrors of poverty.”
Yuvika Diwan ’13, a newcomer to the event, also spoke positively of her experience. “I really enjoyed being a part of the CROP walk because it was a peaceful message advocating for hunger issues across the world,” she said.
“The weather was beautiful, and all we did was stop residents rushing past to look at us holding banners and signs, and I felt like I might have contributed to something larger than myself,” she added.
At the end of the day, participants achieved goals and made new connections. As Keller concluded, “I think CROP Walk was successful, again, this year in raising money and awareness for global hunger. And I think it helped bring people together, from the college students who donated their lunches through Bon Appétit to the larger community of Northfield who participated in the walk.”