Spring Break
The Daily OrangeWalk to raise funds, awareness for poverty
By Rebecca Strum
Posted: 10/15/09, 2:56 AM EST Section: News
Douglas Anderson hopes three and a half miles will teach people a lesson about poverty.
Anderson, a regional director for Church World Services and Syracuse University's Office of Engagement Programs, will host a hunger walk Sunday in an effort to raise money for the poor population of Syracuse.
"I think about 31 percent, almost one third of our city's residents, lives at or below the poverty line," Anderson said. "To put this in perspective, the national average of those living below the national poverty line is about 12.5 percent.
"We are more than twice the national average."
The Christian Rural Overseas Program Hunger Walk will begin Sunday at 12:15 p.m. at Hendricks Chapel, according to the Office of Engagement Programs Web site.
Church World Services created the walk 40 years ago to model what some people must do every day simply to survive. Walking to survive is a lifestyle for too many in the world, Anderson said.
"The CROP walk proclaims loudly to the world, 'Look, you're joining three quarters of humanity in doing this,'" Anderson said. "You're thinking one day out of the year, 'I have it pretty good.'"
There are several CROP walks in Central New York this weekend. The organization expects about 3,000 people total will participate in all the Central New York walks. Last year, participants raised about $850,000, Anderson said.
The money raised goes to Church World Services, an international non-governmental organization that was established in 1946, according to the organization's Web site.
Students should be aware of hunger issues, Anderson said.
"This is a big issue for you, as students in a world that you're inheriting. A hungry world is not going to be a stable world."
Hendricks Chapel and Church World Services have partnered for more than 30 years. In that time, SU students have participated in the organization's volunteer work.
The organization works in impoverished communities worldwide, providing farming equipment, mother-child clinics and education. Church World Services works in the United States, too, resettling refugees and offering aid to areas affected by disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina.
Since the walks in Central New York began in 1977, Church World Services has raised about $3.7 million in four local counties: Onondaga, Oswego, Cayuga and Madison.
Twenty-five percent of the money raised at the CROP walk goes back into the local community, Anderson said. "We've returned about $975,000 back to the CNY region, as well as contributing to the international fund."
The money goes toward fighting hunger through programs like Meals on Wheels and the Interreligious Food Consortium, a network of about 70 pantries in the Syracuse area that serve more than 200,000 meals a month.
rastrum@syr.edu
Anderson, a regional director for Church World Services and Syracuse University's Office of Engagement Programs, will host a hunger walk Sunday in an effort to raise money for the poor population of Syracuse.
"I think about 31 percent, almost one third of our city's residents, lives at or below the poverty line," Anderson said. "To put this in perspective, the national average of those living below the national poverty line is about 12.5 percent.
"We are more than twice the national average."
The Christian Rural Overseas Program Hunger Walk will begin Sunday at 12:15 p.m. at Hendricks Chapel, according to the Office of Engagement Programs Web site.
Church World Services created the walk 40 years ago to model what some people must do every day simply to survive. Walking to survive is a lifestyle for too many in the world, Anderson said.
"The CROP walk proclaims loudly to the world, 'Look, you're joining three quarters of humanity in doing this,'" Anderson said. "You're thinking one day out of the year, 'I have it pretty good.'"
There are several CROP walks in Central New York this weekend. The organization expects about 3,000 people total will participate in all the Central New York walks. Last year, participants raised about $850,000, Anderson said.
The money raised goes to Church World Services, an international non-governmental organization that was established in 1946, according to the organization's Web site.
Students should be aware of hunger issues, Anderson said.
"This is a big issue for you, as students in a world that you're inheriting. A hungry world is not going to be a stable world."
Hendricks Chapel and Church World Services have partnered for more than 30 years. In that time, SU students have participated in the organization's volunteer work.
The organization works in impoverished communities worldwide, providing farming equipment, mother-child clinics and education. Church World Services works in the United States, too, resettling refugees and offering aid to areas affected by disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina.
Since the walks in Central New York began in 1977, Church World Services has raised about $3.7 million in four local counties: Onondaga, Oswego, Cayuga and Madison.
Twenty-five percent of the money raised at the CROP walk goes back into the local community, Anderson said. "We've returned about $975,000 back to the CNY region, as well as contributing to the international fund."
The money goes toward fighting hunger through programs like Meals on Wheels and the Interreligious Food Consortium, a network of about 70 pantries in the Syracuse area that serve more than 200,000 meals a month.
rastrum@syr.edu
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