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The Daily Tar Heel

CROP walk, hosted by Inter-Faith Council, provides hunger relief

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Caroline Jones holds a sign to help organize participants in the IFC Crop Walk.

The overcast skies and bleak weather didn’t discourage Ramona Matthews from coming out to the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service’s 26th annual CROP Hunger Walk Sunday to fight global and local hunger.

“Hunger goes on whether it’s raining or cold,” said Matthews, a volunteer for the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service and a member of the CROP walk committee.

The CROP walk, which is the council’s largest fundraiser, stretches four miles and begins and ends at the Carrboro Town Commons. Walkers also have the option of a one-mile route.

Last year, the event generated $47,000 that was donated to hunger relief efforts, but estimates of this year’s proceeds weren’t available Sunday.

A quarter of the funds raised from registration fees go to local hunger relief programs and the remainder is given to Church World Service, which sponsors the event and supports hunger relief efforts worldwide.

Mary Catherine Hinds, associate regional director for Church World Service, said there is a 75-25 split because of the greater need that exists globally.

“We realize that though there is need here, but globally there is no safety net,” she said.

Still, town leaders emphasized community needs at the CROP walk.

“Even in the richest county in North Carolina, we have unacceptable levels of poverty,” said Aaron Nelson, president and CEO of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce.

To raise additional money for local hunger relief efforts, organizers added a silent auction to this year’s event for the first time.

The Inter-Faith Council’s Community Kitchen and Food Pantry will receive all funds from T-shirt and silent auction sales.

Gia Branciforte, a Carrboro resident and council volunteer, said the silent auction is a way to bring more people and more funds.

Local businesses, such as Top of the Hill and 411 West, donated gift certificates to the auction. A basketball signed by Roy Williams was also auctioned off.

Hinds said the Church World Service started the first hunger walk in 1967 in Indiana and that the event served as the prototype for future charity walks.

Hinds said her personal experiences have motivated her to become involved in the organization.

“I have lived and traveled globally and seen firsthand that hunger walks have made a difference for those living on the edge.”

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