More than a hundred community members participated in the 16th annual CROP Walk and Run on Sunday. CROP Hunger Walks are held across the U.S. with proceeds going to aid local, national and international projects.
Twenty-five percent of the walk’s proceeds go directly back into Columbia food programs. The CROP walk supports four food programs in Columbia: the Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen, the Russell Chapel Community Food Pantry, the Latter House Kingdom Ministries Food Pantry and the Fifth Street Christian Church’s Feed the Community meal. Representatives of these four programs were present at the opening ceremony in the courtyard of the Missouri United Methodist Church on Ninth Street before the race.
Columbia Mayor Bob McDavid, who was also present at the opening ceremony, spoke to the participants before they began the race.
“Until we’ve come to where this walk is no longer needed, then we’ve got to keep working together, and we are going to solve this problem,” he said.
Sunday marked the first 5K Hunger Run held in Columbia. Participants came from a variety of congregations and organizations and ranged in age.
“We are just grateful for the support of the community,” said Cleo Kottwitz, CROP Walk and Run coordinating team volunteer. “We celebrate that this is an interfaith event. I don’t think there is any other event in Missouri that’s as interfaith as this one here.”
Harrison Keithahn, a junior at Rock Bridge High School and member of Columbia’s Boy Scouts Troop 4, organized the 5K Hunger Run for his Eagle Scout project. He said it was an effort on the part of many to organize the event.
“Collaboration is key,” Keithahn said. “This couldn’t have happened without it.”
The project began around mid-spring and has taken at least five months to organize, Keithahn said.
“For what we have today, the weather and the turnout, every bit of effort was worth it,” he said.
Troop 4 plans to help manage the 5K Hunger Run in future years as well. The CROP Hunger Walk organizers were trying to attract a different crowd by adding the 5K run to the walk in an effort to raise additional proceeds, Keithahn said.
The CROP Hunger Walk has already seen a growing amount of community support in the last five years.
“We were raising, oh, $5,000 or $10,000, and then in the past few years we’ve been able to raise $15,000 to $20,000,” Kottwitz said. “We’ve grown our local support.”
Keithahn served as the announcer for the closing ceremony in the courtyard of the Missouri United Methodist Church. He named the winners of each age group and presented them with prizes such as gift cards.
“It was a fun and beautiful day to do (the race), and a great cause,” said Amy Company, who won first place in the adult woman category.
Donations will continue to be collected for the CROP Hunger Walk during the next month. The remaining 75 percent raised by Columbia’s CROP Hunger Walk will go toward long-term sustainability projects in local communities.
“The real focus is on development, to help communities work together to take care of themselves for the long haul,” Kottwitz said.