DATE: Sunday, November 2, 1997              TAG: 9710310275

SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER      PAGE: 12   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   37 lines

FUND-RAISER WALK RESET FOR TODAY

The annual Chesapeake CROP Walk, which was originally scheduled for Oct. 19, will take place today at Lakeside Park, Bainbridge Boulevard and Byrd Avenue in Chesapeake's South Norfolk section.

The fund-raiser to help fight hunger locally, nationally and abroad was postponed two weeks ago because of inclement weather. It has been rescheduled to begin at 2 p.m., today, said walk organizer David M. Pritchard.

Registration for the 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) walk takes place at 1:20 p.m.

Participating groups and individuals are asked to seek pledge money for a completed walk, Pritchard said. These funds should then be turned over to each group's pledge coordinator who will turn the money over to the Chesapeake walk committee.

Last year, 124 participants helped raise a total of $6,148. Of that amount, 25 percent or $1,537.18 came back to the local Community Resources Network, which distributed the money to food closets in Great Bridge, to the Chesapeake Avenue United Methodist Church and to the Chesapeake Human Resource Center, Pritchard said. The rest of the money was used by the nationally sponsoring Church World Service for national and international food assistance.

When the effort began more than 50 years ago, it was called the Christian Rural Overseas Program or CROP. Now the acronym just identifies the hunger education and fund-raising events sponsored by the Church World Service, an international relief, development and refugee resettlement agency made up of Protestant, Anglican and Orthodox denominations.

The walk is open to any individual, church, high school service club, community help organization or scout troop, Pritchard said. MEMO: For more information about the Chesapeake CROP Walk, contact

Pritchard at 436-0305. Or just show up today at the walk's registration

booth at Lakeside Park before 2 p.m.

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