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The 34th annual Hunger Walk will be on May 7 beginning at 8:00 AM and you are cordially invited to join us.
This year it is the Access/GRACE Hunger Walk as the transition to a new leadership starts. Beginning this year and continuing for the next few years, the Walk will see some changes that will enhance the experience for walkers. What won't change is the Walk's commitment to raising awareness of worldwide hunger and its eventual elimination.
Food prices are on the rise. For most of us in the United States that means we can buy fewer luxuries. For the poor in Kent County it is a problem. For the poor in other parts of the world it is a catastrophe. Events like the Access/Grace Hunger Walk can help to offset the devastation that higher food prices are causing.
It only takes a quick look at what has happened to prices at the gas pump to realize that poverty and hunger related unrest in Africa and the Middle East affect us. As Nobel Peace Prize winner George Marshall said back in 1947, "hunger and insecurity are the worst enemies of peace." Because we live in a much smaller and more interconnected world now than in Secretary of State Mr. Marshall’s time, there is added significance to that statement. (For more on food price increases, see the related article in the Financial Times.)
In the 33 year history of the Hunger Walk, over $5.5 million has been raised. Sadly, due to the ongoing financial challenges facing our community, the past two years have seen decreasing participation. It would be gratifying to have that trend reversed this year.
The Hunger Walk's website provides information on the Walk, Access and all the agencies involved in this year's Walk.
On December 17, 2010, due in a small part to rising food prices, Mohammad Bouazizi set himself on fire. That desperate act eventually led to the fall of the despotic Tunisian government and similar events in the Arab world. What if a peaceful walk in Kent County could have such a dramatic effect on hunger? It is, after all, a small and interconnected world.
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