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By Melanie Lekocevic

Capital Region Independent Media

RAVENA — About 70 church parishioners walked through the village last Sunday raising money and awareness of hunger on both the local and global levels.

The annual CROP Walk started out at Mosher Park, traveled through the village making several stops for prayer and reflection along the way, and then concluded back at the park.

The event, hosted locally by the RCS Association of Churches, has been held for about 40 years.

“We want to let people see what the churches are doing, that we are concerned about the world and that we are not just locked into our buildings,” said the Rev. Antonio Booth, one of the event’s organizers. “And we also have a concern about people who are hungry — this is a good way to raise money, build fellowship and make people aware of some of the things that we do for the community. That’s why we stop at the churches, the food pantries, we go to Senior Projects and the backpack program, so people can see what we are doing locally.”

About $4,000 was raised as of Sunday, with one-quarter of those funds staying local and distributed by the RCS Association of Churches and the rest distributed globally by Church World Service.

“[Church World Service] does a lot of training related to agriculture, training people so they can feed themselves. Some people start small businesses so they can raise an income for themselves,” Booth said. “They work in refugee camps, like in Tanzania, and show them how to raise sustainable vegetables so they can feed themselves during food shortages. It’s not just giving out food but training people so they can be more sustainable.”

Locally, participating churches included Grace United Methodist, Trinity United Methodist, Riverview Missionary Baptist, Congregational Christian, St. Patrick’s, New Baltimore Reformed, and First Reformed and United Methodist churches in South Bethlehem.

In addition to raising money through sponsors for walkers and donations from participating churches, local residents who live along the walk route were asked to donate bags of nonperishable foods that walkers picked up and carried along the route in small red wagons.

“I think the CROP Walk is important to the community — some of the funds come back to the community so it’s good for us to be involved and it’s also good for us to get together and do something with members of all the different churches,” said Fran Lobdell, the walk’s treasurer.

In 2022, the walk raised $3,500, and the year before it was $5,400, Lobdell said.

Eileen Vosburgh, the team captain for St. Patrick’s Church walkers, has been participating in the annual event for a long time.

“I have been doing this for many years, since my daughter was young,” Vosburgh said. “It brings the community and the churches together. It’s a great event — it really helps the local food pantries and people all over the world.”

Christa Desrosiers, also from St. Patrick’s Church, said events like the walk help create empathy.

“Our youth helped collect change at what we call the ‘Super Bowl’ event, where we collect change for the CROP Walk,” Desrosiers said. “I have never been hungry and my children have never been hungry, and I wanted to make sure people know there are a lot of people who are hungry and we can do something about it.”

The statistics in both the United States and around the world are sobering. Signs posted around Mosher Park during the event stated that about 3 million children in Sudan are malnourished, and 47% of kids under 5 years old in Guatemala suffer from malnutrition — among the highest in the world, according to Church World Service.

In the U.S., nearly 13 million children, or 18%, live in poverty.

Phyllis Shook from Grace United Methodist Church said she has been participating in the walk for years.

“It’s something I have always done,” Shook said. “I just believe in the cause. I love the fact that a lot of the money stays local, plus we have families here that I know need the help.”

After a prayer by Booth, walkers took off from the park to travel along the designated route through the village.

Pastor Reginald Graham from Riverview Missionary Baptist Church pushed parishioner Iris Table in her wheelchair.

“We are here to support the CROP Walk,” Graham said. “We want to support our communities and any efforts that are being done that are positive and helpful. That is what the church is all about — helping people. Secondly, we don’t think anyone should be hungry. In a society with so much abundance, we all have so much to give so hopefully by all of us gathering together and walking, we will encourage others to take part and help.”

Deja Ross and her young son Hakeem Mason from Riverview also participated, and Ross said it is all about helping others.

“We are here to support Riverview and we are here to fulfill God’s promises and to help those who are less fortunate than us,” Ross said.