After a year in which the Oneida Area Crop Walk was changed to a virtual walk, plans are already underway to bring this important fundraiser back in October and make the event bigger and more successful.

New 2017 Oneida Area Crop Walk Chairperson, Michael Yeoman, Co-Pastor of the Three Voices Presbyterian Church, is hoping to make this a fun and rewarding community event. “I have already heard from a variety of groups throughout the area who are excited and upbeat that the actual walk is returning to the Oneida area,” Yeoman said.

Plans have begun with the focus of engaging teams consisting of a broad cross-section of the Oneida community, “We want to create a fun, interactive, community-oriented event that is inclusive of, businesses, civic groups, churches, youth organizations, school groups, and community-based organizations.”

Crop Walk is an interfaith, community-oriented event that (1) raises funds to help hungry people, (2) raises awareness of hunger as an issue, (3) engages and trains volunteers for community service, and (4) brings together persons of many ages and backgrounds in a common endeavor.

With its inception in 1969, CROP Hunger Walks are viewed by many as the granddaddy of charity walks. On Oct. 17, 1969, a thousand people in Bismarck, ND, walked in what may have been the start of the hunger walks related to CROP – and raised $25,000 to help stop hunger. As far as we know, York County, Penn., was the first walk officially called the CROP Walk for the Hungry – and that event has been continuous since 1970. Several other CROP Hunger Walks occurred soon thereafter, and before long there were hundreds of Walks each year in communities nationwide.

Oneida will be one of well over 2,000 communities across the U.S. joining in CROP Hunger Walks this year. More than five million CROP Hunger Walkers have participated in more than 36,000 CROP Hunger Walks in the last two decades alone.

CROP Hunger Walks remain a grassroots effort symbolizing the daily journey that many must make for their basic needs.

“Hunger is everywhere—even in our own neighborhoods,” Yeoman said. A quarter of all funds raised will stay in the Oneida area to support our Food Banks, and 75 percent support sustainable hunger responses around

A quarter of all funds raised will stay in the Oneida area to support our Food Banks, and 75 percent support sustainable hunger responses around the world.

The 2017 Oneida Area Crop Walk is scheduled for Oct. 29. Teams can already start to register through the official site https://www.crophungerwalk.org/oneidany. A Facebook page has also been set up to keep community members up to date as plans for the event continue to develop – oneidacropwalk2017. Individuals or teams with questions or ideas can also send Yeoman an email at oneidacropwalk@gmail.com.

By martha

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