Fighting hunger, step by step by step

Monroe - The rain stopped just in time last Sunday for the more than 100 people who joined the ninth annual Monroe CROP Walk, which has raised more than $60,000 over the past eight years for the relief of world hunger. “As the leaves start to fall, the temperature drops, and the fuel prices rise, those in need will feel the bite of winter more deeply,” said Norah Fields, one of the organizers since the CROP Walk’s inception who also sits on the Board of the Monroe Food Pantry. Fields, who was joined by her 17 year-old daughter, Sarah, also noted the CROP Walk’s slogan: “We walk because they walk.” It is a reminder, she said, of how millions of people worldwide must walk everyday to retrieve food and water. She also predicted that many people will be forced to walk to the food pantry at the United Methodist Church 47 Maple Avenue in Monroe with the increase cost of gasoline. The Monroe Food Pantry services approximately 175 families in need during Thanksgiving. It is open the second and fourth Saturdays of every month, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. For more information, call 783-6731. The walk starts and ends at the Monroe United Methodist Church. “Seventy-five percent of the funds raised go to combat world hunger, but 25 percent stays in our own backyard to help our neighbors in need in the Monroe-Woodbury area,” Fields said. The idea for Monroe to hold its own CROP Walk first originated in 1997, when the Monroe Interfaith Service Committee learned about the event. Sponsored by the Church World Service, CROP Walks have been raising money to help feed the hungry for decades. Monroe’s event is held on a Sunday rather than a Saturday, so that people of all faiths can participate. This year, funds raised will not only go overseas and help our local community, but will also partly be sent to help those suffering along the Gulf Coast. Local sponsors included the American Legion, Laura Ann Farms, Fran’s Hallmark, Stop and Shop, JK Commercial Art Service, Lion’s Club, McDonald’s, Monroe Bagels and Deli, Shop-Rite and Monroe Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Walkers represented not only a wide spectrum of community groups, but also a wide range of ages, from babies in carriages to the elderly. The number of teenagers walking also was notable. Sister Josita of Monroe, who has been volunteering at the Monroe CROP Walk for the past six years, said that it is “great to involve the community in a worldwide effort.” Beth Miller of Monroe, a member of Eitz Chaim, added: “I feel that the relief of world hunger is intimately connected with the elimination of global poverty n perhaps the most devastating social problem our world faces today. Let’s all do our part to eliminate local and world hunger.”