  Their goal was to reach the $2,000 mark, but participants in the 2010 CROP Walk held Sept. 26 in Durant were excited to learn that more than $3,367 in donations were raised at this year's event. Twenty-five percent of the total collected will remain in the community to be used bythe Wilton-Durant Food Pantry and the Durant/Wilton Ministerial Association Help Fund for local needs. An application was made for matching funds from the New Hope Foundation in memory ofC. Maxwell and Elizabeth Stanley. The CROP Walk began in 1947 to help Midwest farm families share their grain with hungry neighbors in post-WorldWar II Europe and Asia. Initially, CROP was an acronym for Christian Rural Overseas Program. It has retained its historic name as CROP hunger walks are held in more than 2,000 communities across the United States along with interfaith hunger education and fundraising events. This year's local CROP Walk was a 3.8-mile walk around the perimeter of Durant, starting and ending at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church with a water stop at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. There were 63 registered walkers representing churches in the Durant and Wilton area. What was unique at this year's walk was that St. Paul's Episcopal Church had two relay teams—four in one team and two in another. (See photo.) "This enables some people to participate who might not have been able to otherwise," said Karon Lewis of Durant. "We had a participant who is 81 years old successfully complete one leg of the four-person team. And we also saw that a toddler was being pushed in a stroller." |
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