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Lansing walkers joined people all over the United States in a walk to help fight hunger, both locally and around the world.  Lansing United Methodist Church (LUMC) and All Saints Catholic Church joined to host Lansing's 14th annual 'Communites Responding to Overcome Poverty' (CROP) Walk.  "Some of our goals are monetary and some are spiritual," said LUMC CROP Walk coach Ed LaVigne.  "Some are sensitizing people to other parts of the world, and there is a healing benefit because some people realize their lives aren't so bad compared to others."

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(left to right) Skip and Holly Hardy, Deb LeVigne, and Cathy Sharpless
walking to help fight off local and world hunger

Church World Service is the national organization behind Crop Walks have been going on for a long time.  The first Crop Walk was in Bismark, North Dakota on October 17, 1969.  They had about 1,000 walkers and raised about $25,000.  The idea was to create a fund raiser that would model what people around the world have to do every day to survive.  Walking for food was chosen for this model, and last year 20,000 crop walks raised $4 million for food pantries alone.  A quarter of the proceeds go to local food pantries, meaning $16,000 was raised nationwide. 

Lansing walkers joined people all over the United States in a walk to help fight hunger, both locally and around the world.  Lansing United Methodist Church (LUMC) and All Saints Catholic Church joined to host Lansing's 14th annual CROP Walk.  "Some of our goals are monetary and some are spiritual," said LUMC CROP Walk Coach Ed LaVigne.  "Some are sensitizing people to other parts of the world, and there is a healing benefit because some people realize their lives aren't so bad compared to others."

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Crop WalkCrop WalkLaVigne had arrived at Myers Park early to put up 30 or 40 signs around the route with interesting facts about hunger, crop walks, and thanking walkers for participating before walking laps himself.  He and his counterpart Clara Barrett of All Saints Church organized the local event for over a month to prepare for the walk.  They got people to sign up to get sponsors for their walk.  Some got so much per mile, others got lump sums, but all walked laps around the park while the signs provided facts about CROP walks and hunger around the world.

Tables were set up for donations to the Lansing Food Pantry.  Kim Buck was on hand as Lansing Fire Department EMS.  The Cub Scouts volunteered to help collect cans that walkers were asked to bring along.  The Lansing Lions Club cooked hot dogs, chili and provided beverages.  Other volunteers kept the kids busy painting pumpkins while their parents walked for hunger.

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Everyone got into the act

This year was a little cold, though less rainy than last year.  "The good thing about a bad day is that it reminds you that people in third world countries are less fortunate," LaVigne says.  This is every day to them.  We can go inside, get lots of food.  We don't have to worry where our next meal is coming from."

"When Lansing children learn about conditions for children in poorer countries," says Father Martin Kuusangnayir, who has come to Lansing from his native Ghana, "they are surprised in the first place, and from today's walk already I see they are prepared to support their colleagues who are less privileged in less developed countries."

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Lansing coached Ed LaVigne and Clara Barrett

Upstate New York Regional Director Doug Anderson was on hand to launch the Tompkins County walks, speaking briefly at each church before coming down to the park.  "Today Lansing is going to cross the $90,000 mark since we started this in 1993," he said.  "And guess what?  Ithaca, Trumansburg, Lansing -- all these Tompkins County Crop Walks will probably cross the half million dollar mark since we started crop walks in the late '70s.  Ithaca will cross the quarter million mark today.  So lots or people, lots of feet walking because others walk around the world, and its a real celebratory day for Lansing."

Anderson launched the Lansing walk 14 years ago with Reverend Bill Cruikshank.  His region includes 50 counties and about 6 million people in upstate New York.  This region alone conducts 150 crop walks every year, about a third in the Spring and the rest in the Fall.  "We work to build volunteer committees who will make sure the walk route is safe with check points and potty stops and water check points," he says.  "We work with police departments to make safe routes, and we deal with recruiters to recruit walkers from churches, schools, service clubs, and community groups."

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Don Hradisky broght Lansing Cub Scouts to help collect cans

A quarter of the money raised at Myers Park is slated for the Lansing Food Pantry.  The rest goes to Church World Service, which provides food to people in third world countries as well as the U.S.  "One of their goals is to provide fresh drinking water for people, clear the land of land mines so they can farm, and empower them to be self sufficient.," LaVigne says.

The walk was especially meaningful for children, who learned about kids their age in less fortunate circumstances.  "I come from a rural area in Africa and I know how people are suffering," Father Martin explained.  "I told the kids that in some parts of Africa there are people who are not sure they will even get a single meal for the whole day.  Some of the children are not certain about their education, because you can have a whole village where there is not a single school.  It's not because they don't want to go, it's because the school is not there.  Some of them can not afford to pay their fees and they have to drop out."

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Doug Anderson

Anderson notes "All people of good will join together to do this and remember that three quarters of humanity has to do this every day just to survive."  And the path was active as adults and children completed multiple laps around the park.  "Jesus was asked, 'When did we see you hungry and feed you?," Barret says.  "When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink?'  And Jesus responded 'In as much as you've done it to the least of these, my brothers, you've done it to me.'  And that's why we're doing this."

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