Pottstown residents gathered recently to take a stand on a pervasive community issue; they did so, ironically, by walking. The fund- and awareness-raiser was the Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities’ annual CROP Hunger Walk.

The one-mile stroll was along Riverfront Park. Its proceeds generated financial resources for the organization’s effort to provide food security locally and around the globe.

People could either register as individuals or as teams.

The CROP Hunger Walks was believed to have started in 1969 in North Dakota. A thousand Bismark residents raised $25,000 for food-insecurity relief by enticing sponsors to contribute for the distances they trod together, according to the CROP website.

The first “official” walk — unverified but cited anecdotally by CROP — took place in York County, Pa. Its effectiveness led the movement to spread to communities nationwide.

Now, more than 1,000 walks are organized and held annually throughout the country.

Twenty-five percent of the funds they raise go toward CROP’s local efforts to fight hunger, while the rest contribute to fighting hunger globally.

Learn more about this walk on the CROP Hunger Walk website.

Hunger Walk testimonials.