What do world hunger and a 10k event have in common?
Join the 23rd Annual Boulder County CROP Walk on October 26th, and find out. Virginia
McConnell started it in 1986, and, according to the current CROP Walk organizer
Suzanne Dysard, this event is still going strong. "[It's] raising money to
fight hunger locally through Community Food Share and globally through a variety
of agencies such as Church World Service and CARE," Dysard says.
The
CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) organization began in 1947 under
the wing of Church World Service. Its primary mission was to help Midwest farm
families to share their grain with hungry neighbors in post-World War II Europe
and Asia.
McConnell, the local Hunger Walk's
originator, describes the effort, participated in by sponsor/walkers as a fun
community event and a learning experience. Participants may race, but many walk
pets and push strollers. They walk a new route every year.
At the "step-off"'
which takes place at 2:00 p.m., McConnell says, "we've had llamas lead us,
and one year there was a bagpipe." Prizes given for various efforts in the
event have included a massage and a pedometer.
"We
emphasize a new theme each year, such as one of our earlier ones, the issue of
migrant workers and their lack of access to water and toilets as they labored
in the fields." She adds that it's partially due to the local CROP Walk effort
that State legislation was passed to improve that situation.
Growing
up in eastern Tennessee, she said, "People came to our back door asking for
food and we always had something." At that time McConnell's grandmother and
aunt also joined her household and became an integral part of it. "Being
a part of the Church also has influenced a lot of my choices," the volunteer
added. "A big part of my personal faith is from the biblical quotation that
says 'To whom much is given, of him shall much be required.'"
When
her family moved to Boulder, McConnell volunteered for the Presbyterian Hunger
Program. In 1983 her husband died of a heart attack on a sunny afternoon while
hiking Torrey's Peak on the high, steep north ridge trail. "I believe I transferred
the affection within me for him to caring for others through these programs,"
says the mother of five.
In 1986, she went
to Denver to a Church World Service workshop, learned about CROP Walks throughout
the U.S., and organized Boulder's first one. She's also very enthusiastic about
local efforts for UNICEF, an organization she has served since the '70's. "Our
local group is currently initiating sponsorship for the clearance of our ninth
land mine in Mozambique," says the volunteer.
In
mid-life McConnell got a second master's degree in the Great Books Curriculum,
from St. John's College in Annapolis, and says, "This was such a good idea
for me, learning what these authors were trying to say. I write poetry and actually
feel that this poem I wrote when I was young explains something of why I want
to be a person who cares:"
When I
was three I thought I could hear
The paper bells that hung on the chandelier
ring on Christmas Eve.
And ever since I've been aware
Of marvelous things
my heart can hear.
For information
about volunteering with CROP Walk or other agencies, call the Volunteer Connection
at 303-444-4904.
