One Week to Go!

We have exactly one week left to get our sponsors and collect our money. We also still need several more volunteers to help out on the day of the walk. If you can help count and sort canned food; prepare, serve, or clean-up the after-walk snacks; help check-in walkers; or help as needed - please send an email to venturacropwalk@gmail.com.

In the meantime, here are some pictures from last year's CROP Hunger Walk:

Get Ready for the 2009 Hunger Walk!

CROP Hunger Walk participants and supporters, you are invited to our Kickoff Event:

Saturday, January 31
2:30 pm
Ventura First United Methodist Church
1338 E. Santa Clara Street

Julie Brumana, CWS Southwest Regional Director, will be there to update us on the most recent ways CROP money has been used. Pick-up information and sponsor sheets to take back to your organization. (We are still looking for recruiters but anyone willing to help spread the news about this year's Hunger Walk is more than welcome!)

Questions? Please contact Kappy Paulsen (647-1600), Recruiter Coordinator; Janet Campbell (658-1751), Walk Co-Coordinator; or Renata Hundley(658-7446), Walk Co-Coordinator. Or email: venturacropwalk@gmail.com

2008 Hunger Walk Video

I finally took the time to put my video clips together. See who helped raise nearly $25,000.00 this year!

Keep Turning-in Your Donations!

As of May 5th, you have turned in $21,314.93 - thank you! There are still several envelopes that have not been turned in and promised money not yet collected, so if you have any of those, please turn them in to your recruiter or our CROP treasurer, Gloria Lewis. You can also drop off your walker envelopes and money at the First United Methodist Church office - Attn: Gloria. You walked by the office as you were finishing your walk last month. You did a great job on an awfully hot day - fantastic work!

6 . . . . 5 . . . . 4 Days to Go!

The CROP Hunger Walk is almost here . . . . are you ready? Now's the time to collect your pledges; it's easier to turn them in on the day of the walk, rather than collecting them in the weeks afterward. It's your choice and your sponsors' but the sooner the funds can be sent in, the sooner they can begin working!

Don't forget to bring your canned and boxed food (any non-perishable is welcome but see the March 18 posting for the list of food pantry staples).

It's never too late to ask your friends to join you as walkers or sponsors - even Sunday morning!

We can still use more volunteers to help serve refreshments, sort and count food, take down signs, help decorate. We have one "sag wagon" driver but could use another so people, especially little children, can get picked up sooner if they can't finish the whole walk. Just email Renata at venturacropwalk@gmail if you want to volunteer for anything!

And to psych you up for this weekend, here are a couple of videos from last year - the start and the finish!




See you soon!

Thank You, Sponsors!

Thanks to the Downtown Branch of Affinity Bank and the Ventura Sunrise Rotary, we will be able to purchase refreshments and a prize or two for our highest fundraisers. Another sponsor is the Feinstein Foundation, the foundation that will send a check based on the amount of canned food we can collect. This year, due to corporate cutbacks, we lost a major donation to CROP. As you are looking for walk supporters, please also look at some of our local businesses and organizations. Do you know anyone who might donate $20 or more toward refreshments or participant prizes? Please ask them and let Walk Coordinator, Renata Hundley, at venturacropwalk@gmail.com know.

Counting Down and Counting UP

With just one week to go before the day of the Walk, our online fundraisers are doing a phenomenal job! As of 7:30 pm today, they have raised $2,982.00! Fantastic - keep it up! The "leader of the pack" continues to be Andrew Wakelee, who has already raised $1,075.00. His fundraising page says it all:

In the last four years, people like you helped me raise more than $5,500 to install clean water wells, aid families in places like Darfur, provide food and housing here in Ventura, help people in poor countries to be better farmers, and help people when there are disasters around the world.

No matter how much each walker raises, they are doing the same thing - fighting hunger and improving the quality of life for people around the world. Whether the need is caused by economic or social factors, or caused by natural or human-caused disasters, each dollar raised will help!