By JOAN HILL Special to the Palisadian-Post Palisades community and religious leaders are giving their full support for the upcoming 29th annual Pacific Palisades CROP Hunger Walk. ”The 5K walk begins and ends at the Palisades Recreation Center (851 Alma Real) on Sunday, March 28. Registration is at 12 noon and the walk begins at 1 p.m. The walk raises funds to aid CROP (Communities Reaching Out to People) which helps alleviate local and world hunger. ”’Feeding people is one of the most worthy causes on our planet,’ said Steve Guttenberg, the walk’s honorary chairman. ‘By joining together in the walk through the Palisades business district, Palisadians have proved in the past, and will prove on March 28, that we make a positive difference in our world.’ ”Local community groups, schools, and religious institutions including Palisades Presbyterian Church, Kehillat Israel, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Corpus Christi and Palisades Methodist Church, are taking part. ”’We who have so much have an obligation to share our blessings with those who have so little,’ said Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben of Kehillat Israel. ‘Our annual Hunger Walk is an opportunity to make a difference in the world and demonstrate with our feet and hearts that what we do matters.’ ”Added the Rev. John Todd of Palisades Presbyterian Church: ‘This is a joyous coming-together of the Palisades community, well known for its open-hearted generosity, for a wonderful afternoon of communion with friends and family while at the same time helping to alleviate a local and international problem.’ ”Last year’s Hunger Walk raised $32,500. ”At St. Matthew’s, fourth graders have been keeping a daily total of the money they have raised and have set a goal of $17,000 for their class contribution alone. Fourth grade teacher Anne Hillard observes that ‘the students are enthusiastically looking for sponsors for the walk, soliciting family and neighbors to do chores, and will be working on Sundays at the Swarthmore farmers’ market and after church services at St. Matthew’s. As a teacher, I feel an extreme sense of pride as the students strive to help others while gaining important life skills.’ ”Hunger is a worldwide problem, as statistics show nearly one of four children in Los Angeles County goes to bed hungry every night. Aiding the hungry in this area, 25 percent of the funds raised will go to the Westside Food Bank, which annually distributes more than 4 million pounds of food to over 60 local social-service agencies. ”The remaining 75 percent benefits CROP, a nondenominational program of the Church World Service, which partners with agencies in more than 80 countries providing food, shelter and water resources to the malnourished and impoverished. ”In addition to walkers from KI and St. Matthew’s, students from Marquez, Corpus Christi, Palisades Elementary and Curtis will be participating. ”’The great thing about the Hunger Walk,’ said David Miller, rector of the Parish of St. Matthew’s, ‘is that people from all over the community band together to make common witness about how we feel about world hunger, and that is why I will be putting on my sneakers after church on March 28.’ ”Corporate sponsors are John Aaroe and Associates, DBL Realty, Union Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, and the Palisades Junior Women’s Club. Contact: Don Mink at 477-3633.
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