Volunteers in the downtown Syracuse hunger walk Sunday were urged to identify with hungry people across the globe who have to walk miles every day just to find water to drink.

The Plymouth Congregational Church in Syracuse led a prayer to kick off the walk, designed to raise money and awareness to stop world hunger. Clergy reminded volunteers of the day’s purpose: ‘We walk because they walk.’

Students gathered at Hendricks Chapel and then walked to Columbus Circle in downtown Syracuse, joining volunteers from all over the city. About 500 to 700 participants walked around Syracuse holding balloons and signs that read, ‘Stop Hunger.’

Student turnout at the event was the highest since Syracuse students began volunteering with Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty 30 years ago. There were 153 Syracuse University and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students participating in the walk, said Robbi Farschman, director of Hendricks Chapel’s Office of Engagement Programs.

The downtown CROP walk was one of many in Central New York and all over the country Sunday. CROP walks are organized nationally by Church World Service, a non-governmental organization, to raise money and awareness to fight world hunger and poverty.

Most of the student participants were from on-campus groups. Sixty people from the Alpha Phi Omega community service fraternity attended, including Becca Osborne, an ESF sophomore.

‘World hunger is such a huge issue,’ Osborne said. ‘We can raise some money and go for a walk on a nice day.’

Recent international relief efforts by Church World Service have included sending 250,000 school kits to refugees in Pakistan, sending 30,000 health kits to those in need in Congo, Africa, and sending blankets to people all over the world, said Doug Anderson, a Church World Service volunteer.

Anderson helps organize CROP walks in Onondaga, Madison, Cayuga and Oswego counties each year. Anderson said that he is proud the Syracuse walk has had consistent participation in recent years even with the shrinking population of the city.

‘Hunger is real. People need to walk and raise money, but they also need to talk to their politicians at all levels,’ Anderson said. ‘Syracuse is the hungriest city in New York State with about one-third of the city living below the poverty line.’

Anderson said that 25 percent of the money raised in the local walks goes to groups in the local community like the Interreligious Food Consortium of Central New York. The consortium provides food and supplies to 70 pantries and meal sites in Onondaga County, said Dawn Arlington, the group’s secretary.

jdgenco@syr.edu

Published on October 18, 2009 at 12:00 pm