The 2006 HARRISBURG CROP WALK for Hunger will be held on Sunday, October 22nd, beginning at 1:30 pm on City Island. Come rain or shine, many people are gearing up to walk from 2 to 10 miles. CROP Walkers are urged to ask family, friends, and co-workers to sponsor them for this event by securing pledges of a certain amount per mile or a set amount.

This Walk is one of some 2,000 CROP WALKS taking place around the country this year. Organized locally, the Harrisburg CROP WALK is one of the largest in Pennsylvania. Typically, one thousand Walkers raise nearly $50,000 each year. Approximately 25% of funds raised stay in the Harrisburg area for various hunger initiatives, including support for food banks and soup kitchens. CROP was one of the first to use a walk to raise funds. Since the first CROP walk in 1972, over one million dollars has been raised in our area.

CROP is a program of Church World Service (CWS), the relief, development, and refugee assistance arm of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (of which the Episcopal Church is a member). Its primary goal is to help stop hunger here in our community and around the world, through self-help development initiatives. It is also involved in education, advocacy, disaster relief, and disease prevention. This year, CROP continues the broad theme of aid to refugees. One of CROP’s slogan’s is “We walk. because they walk,” and another is “You can make a difference.”

Please consider joining others in our community for this important cause. Why not make it a family event? For more information about the CROP WALK, please contact Bill Ilgenfritz at 564-1615 or e-mail at You can also pledge on-line via St. Stephen’s web site at:  skyview11@comcast.net.

Additional information about the work of CROP can be found by clicking here.