300 participate in Burlington hunger walk
300 participate in Burlington hunger walk PHOTO CREDIT: Emily McManamy
By Matt Ryan, • Free Press Staff Writer • Monday, October 18, 2010
The 31st annual Northern Vermont CROP Hunger Walk, a global and local focused anti-hunger fundraising event, brought more than 300 walkers to downtown Burlington on Sunday.
Inside the First Congregational Church of Burlington, Lucy Samara addressed the crowd as it prepared to embark on a walk to feed the hungry.
“We’re gathering with a very simple message,” said Samara, who organized the fundraiser. “We believe that we can walk with the world to end hunger, one step at a time.”
More than 300 people, many of them high school and college students, marched Sunday in the 31st annual Northern Vermont CROP Hunger Walk in Burlington. Samara said she expected the walk to raise more than $35,000. As of Sunday evening, the walk had raised $25,000, Samara said, adding she expected more donations to come in over the next few weeks.
Last year’s CROP Walk raised more than $35,200.
The nearly three mile-long walk began and ended at the First Congregational Church of Burlington, passing the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf along the way. Rob Meehan, the food shelf’s director, handed out muffins and Gatorade to the walkers.
The food shelf received 20 percent of the walk’s proceeds. The Church World Service, a New York-based Christian organization that provides aid to more than 80 countries, received 75 percent of the proceeds. Five percent went to JUMP (The Joint Urban Ministry Project) in Chittenden County.
The walk benefits the food shelf by way of donations and through raising awareness about hunger in Vermont, Meehan said.
“It’s significant,” he said. The food shelf serves 12,500 people, 5,000 of whom are younger than 18, Meehan said.
Students from Rice Memorial, Burlington, Colchester, Essex and South Burlington high schools and St. Michael’s College marched in the walk. Tyler Derderian, 18, and Zach Scanlon, 17, both seniors at Rice Memorial High School raced the last block of the walk. They raised $25 and $30 respectively, and have participated in the walk since they were freshmen.
“It wasn’t that much,” Scanlon said of the distance. “But I can’t walk that every day.”
