CROP WALK Helps the Needy

April 30 is the date for an important annual interfaith event: the 29th annual South Bay CROP WALK.   This is an opportunity to spend a nice spring afternoon strolling through San Jose’s lovely Rose Garden  neighborhood, see some beautiful homes and elaborate landscaping, get some healthful exercise, and help raise money for a worthy cause. Hopefully, our unusual rainy weather will surely be past by then.

Several agencies receive the funds raised through this event:

n Sacred Heart Community Service is a nonprofit agency that provides emergency food supplies to 14,000 families each month. It also runs after-school programs for children and English as a Second Language programs, as well as offering employment assistance.

n Second Harvest Food Bank last year provided millions of pounds of food at minimal cost to more than 600 pantries, soup kitchens, children’s programs, senior services and other nonprofit agencies throughout Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, including St. Joseph’s Center in Gilroy and Reach Out in Morgan Hill.

n Individual sponsors may designate their gifts to other approved hunger-fighting agencies such as CARE, Project HOPE, Heifer Project International and various denominational relief organizations.

n Church World Service, the sponsor of CROP WALK, is a relief, development and refugee assistance ministry of 36 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican (Episcopal) denominations. It works with local partners in more than 80 countries to address the root causes of poverty and powerlessness.

In the early 1990s, South County held its own annual CROP WALK with a route through downtown Morgan Hill, but more recently it has consolidated with the San Jose event. Last year, more than 450 walkers participated, raising a total of more than $55,000 – ranking it among the largest in the nation. It is expected that several groups of walkers will participate from the Morgan Hill/Gilroy area.

The walk begins and ends at Abraham Lincoln High School, 555 Dana St. in San Jose. Registration is at 12:30pm, and the walk begins at 1pm. Volunteers are invited to come and walk the 1-, 5- and 10-mile courses alone or as a group.  Pledge forms are available to secure sponsors who would like to contribute money for this event. 

Free T-shirts and refreshments will be provided to all walkers this year courtesy of sponsors such as Hobee’s Restaurants, Sunpower Corporation and Network Appliances. The organization that holds the walk will also be applying to the Alan Shawn Feinstein Foundation for matching funds for contributions raised by the walkers’ efforts.

29th annual South Bay

CROP WALK

What: A stroll to help raise money for worthy causes

When: April 30

Where: Abraham Lincoln High School, 555 Dana St. in San Jose

Info: Dave Ahn at (650) 725-5320 or da**@******rd.edu. Walkers can also sign up online at

www.cropwalk.org.