BY CYNTHIA Z. BIDDLECOMB

Calling all walkers and runners in Los Alamos County and beyond! Save the date of Sunday, Nov. 19, when the annual Los Alamos CROP Hunger Walk and Turkey Trot will be held. Same bat-time, same bat-location: we will start and end in the parking lot in front of Los Alamos Middle School (on North Mesa). Participants will be entered in a drawing for turkeys and pies.

Runners and walkers will register at a table in front of the school, starting at 1:30pm. When the starting pistol goes off at 2:00pm, runners will lead off. They and the walkers can choose either a 1.7 or 2.57 mile course. The shorter course bypasses the stables; the longer course loops through them. At the end of the course, stay for refreshments and the chance of a pie or turkey.

Participation is free, but folks are asked to make a monetary donation to help alleviate hunger locally and around the globe. At least 25% of the funds collected will go to L.A. Cares, the local food bank serving Los Alamos County residents facing food insufficiency.

This local CROP Hunger Walk is part of a nationwide movement sponsored by Church World Service (CWS), an interfaith non-profit that raises funds to end hunger and poverty internationally. CWS has staff around the world helping communities facing food shortages. Here in the U.S., hundreds of religious and community groups, businesses, schools, and others  organize CROP Hunger Walks every year. The Los Alamos walk/run event has been raising money annually for more than 35 years. CROP/CWS (the interdenominational “Church Rural Overseas Program”) will use up to 75% of our donations to support efforts at food self-sufficiency around the world and within the U.S.

Between now and November 19, potential walk/run participants are encouraged to talk up the event and ask for donations to the cause. You can start the process online by going to this website, https://www.crophungerwalk.org/losalamosnm/ and setting up your own fundraising page. There, you can link your page to your own social media account and help spread the word. You could, also, just link that web address in an email to friends and family. If you are a potential donor, you can use the above website or give on behalf of a runner or walker. Otherwise, cash or checks made out to “CROP Walk” can be turned in at time of registration.

Donations raised by local folks will be tallied at the end of the event and reported to the community through another article in this news source. Funds you raise or give will go to the cause of fighting hunger and poverty in Los Alamos, across our nation, and around the world.