The Schenectady’s (NY) CROP WALK FOR THE HUNGRY - SUNDAY MAY 3rd, 2015.
Registration 12:30 - Walk begins at 1:30 (5Km, optional mile available. Runners are welcome, but it is not a race) - Starts/Ends at Emmanuel Friedens Church, 218 Nott Terrace.

Dear friends, I would like to invite you to take part in the Crop Walk, and if possible to sponsor me by making a pledge and/or donation. Every year people of all ages in the USA walk in this event to raise funds and to raise awareness in fighting poverty here in the US and overseas. Come with your family! It's fun healthy and helpful! Let's help others in need.

WHY DO WE NEED TO HELP? Here’s what the site Feeding  America tells us:
Higher unemployment, lower household assets, and certain demographic characteristics also lead to a lack of access to adequate, nutritious food, are the major causes of poverty in the United States.  
These are some of the most recent statistics on poverty in the USA (from 2013): 
 - 45.3 million people (14.5%) live in poverty.  
- 26.4 million (13.6%) of people ages 18-64 lived in poverty.  
- 14.7 million (19.9%) children under the 18 lived in  poverty. 
- 4.2 million (9.5 percent) seniors 65 and older lived in poverty. 
- Nearly 1 in 5 US small businesses owners are immigrants.
(Source: www.feedingamerica.org)

World Hunger Stats (statistics)

- 805 million people in the world do not have enough to eat
- 98% of the world’s undernourished live in developing countries
- Asia has 525.6 million people that live in poverty, 2/3 of the total poor in the world.
- Sub-Sahara region 214 million
-Latin America and the Caribbean 37 million
- The vast majority of the poor is in developing countries, where 13.5% of the population is malnourished. (source: www.wfp.org)
 

Note that economic inequalities are rising, in fact, 1-2% of the world's population controls the world's resources (money, property, etc); and the rest of the world's peoples are poor and in the middle class.

Jesus taught us to be merciful and He continues to do so. In 1933 He reminded us about mercy again. Jesus revealed this to Saint Faustina Kolwaska;
“I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this, or try to absolve yourself from it.” (p. 742 Divine Mercy Message)

To Make a Pledge/Donation, and/or to get more info;
- See me at work (in school), or in church- after Mass at Saint Anthony's Church in Schenectady, NY (on Seward St & Nott St. on sat & Sun, May 2-3, 2015), or at Saint John's the Evangelist (on eastern Avenue) during the weekends sometime before the walk).
- Sign the Crop Walk forms, make a pledge, or give your donation/pledge to me by Sat. May 2nd, or give it to the church secretaries, or you may bring it (your donation/pledge) to the Crop Walk on Sun. May 3rd.

Thank you! And GBY! 
 Ottavio Lo Piccolo, St. Anthony’s Crop walk Coordinator/walker.
For more information you may email me at ottaviolopiccolo5@gmail.com
or call me at home 370-4476
or the Crop Walk organizer Rev Phil Grigsby,
tel. (518) 374-2683 ex 111   
And/or call 888-CSW-CROP    email: www.cropwalk.org 

WHO SPONSORS THIS EVENT?
It is organized/sponsored by local ecumenical (many) churches and denominations (different faith groups, like Catholic, Protestant, Jewish & Muslim), the Schenectady Inner City Ministry, that coordinates efforts for a common day in the region, the Capital Area Council of Churches (Albany, NY). CROP stands for: Community Hunger Appeal (call); and contributors (those who help by giving their time and money) support Church World Service (CWS) or designate interfaith or secular efforts; this is a community appeal. For more info. email information@sicm.us/call 
374-2683/check out www.cwsglobal.org)

How are funds Distributed?

• 25% of the funds (money collected from these events, the CROP Hunger Walks stays here in the USA.
• 75% goes overseas to  support the hunger relief and development work of Church World Service, or other sponsor designated groups. 
• Funds support direct relief (help, aid), aid to refugees (people who run away from their countries because of war, famine, persecution, etc.) and integrated community development (groups that work together) and address (try to fix, avoid) the root causes of hunger- the problems that make people poor, like unemployment, education, lack of  resources like water, tools, shelter (homes), seeds, crops, animals for farms, medicines, etc.
 

Here's how the Crop walks help ESL students. This student (in the image below) was a refugee, someone who ran away from his country because of war and/or other problems. He knew a little English and got a job in a factory, then went to school to improve (better) his English, and became a manager.

 

THANKS!

I want to thank all the people from Saint Anthony and Saint John the Evangelist Churches in Sch'dy, Middleburgh Elem, Ryder Elem. in Cobleskill, Sharon Springs Elem. School, the Adult Ed. Division Supervisor at Capital Region BOCES, Nancy Williams for her support, and Adult ESL students in my class who made a pledge/donation to the Sch'dy Crop Walk for the Hungry on May 3, 2015.

We raised $ 756.

WE walk every year because, the need is always great. In fact, just recently, on April 26th, a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake near Nepal’s capital city of Katmandu claimed more than 5 thousand lives, caused thousands of injuries, and destroyed homes and infrastructure. Some 1.7 million children require humanitarian assistance.

But another important reason why we walk each year is because  our Lord has taught us to be merciful. He relayed this message to Saint Faustina Kolwaska in in 1933. 

He said:
“I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this, or try to absolve yourself from it.”

 Once again you walked with the poor, and with Jesus too!
Thank you and GBY!