A Popular Walk In Virginia Shares The Secret To Their Success

Fundraising walks are very popular today. In Waynesboro, Virginia, the Waynesboro-East Augusta CROP Hunger Walk is always held the last Sunday afternoon in September. This year the walk will be held on Sunday, September 30th and it is expected to raise between $30,000 and $32,000. This walk to raise funds for local and international hunger relief has a track record of being successful and attracting many walkers. Pastor Randy Lohr of Bethlehem Lutheran Church and Mr. Jan Tobias, a member of the Zion Lutheran Church, both of Waynesboro, Virginia, speak with Charity Mile to share their success strategies and their story.

“This was the 32nd annual CROP walk in Waynesboro. Since 1981, the local CROP walk has raised half a million dollars. Now the CROP walk is structured so that three quarters of the funds go Internationally and one quarter go to local organizations in the community where the CROP walk is held. One quarter of what we raise goes to help local organizations that our steering committee chooses”, said Tobias.

For the past four years the Waynesboro-East Augusta CROP Hunger Walk has supported locally the Salvation Army, Daily Living Center, Valley Program for Aging Services, Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and a new organization added this year: Disciple’s Table, a local soup kitchen through the Second Presbyterian Church in Waynesboro.

“Because the CROP walk has become an established event, the community expects and anticipates it. We came in after this had been done and people laid the foundation. We are building on what they had done; we can’t claim all of the success, that is a big key. If you can keep an event going over a period of time you will establish it in the community. Many of the mainline community churches write the CROP walk into their fall calendar,” said Lohr. They can count on at least thirty local churches to participate in the CROP walk.

This walk has reached the proud distinction of becoming the biggest walk in Virginia this past year. In the past it has been at the top of statewide rankings in terms of donations raised per capita. The CROP walk Waynesboro has raised more funds than larger Virginia communities like Charlottesville.

Source: News Virginian

What Is A CROP Walk?

CROP walk is the fundraising arm of Church World Service, an association of Christian denominations. They are an ecumenical organization that addresses the problem of world hunger. CROP walks are conducted around the country by many churches and communities. Church World Service is the relief, development, and refugee assistance ministry of 35 Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican denominations in the United States.

Source: Church World Service

“After World War II when there was a surplus of food they (Church World Service) developed a program called CROP. It started off as a program to take surplus of harvest overseas. Then hunger needs in other places became apparent and it became a hunger relief ministry. In order to support it they developed the idea of the CROP walk, which enabled Christians and many around the world and the country to raise money for the program to do what they need to do,” said Lohr. CROP stands for Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty.

“Church World Service is involved in many projects, like refugee resettlement,” said Tobias.

Keeping The Message of The CROP Walk In Full Focus

“The tagline for the CROP walk is ‘We walk because they walk’. We walk because these people don’t have transportation to get water or food. The idea is that we are walking in solidarity with them. Every year we try to remind people of that reason,” said Lohr. Several years ago they had some refugees from Sudan who had to leave the country on foot because they would have been forced to join the army and kill each other. They walked to Ethiopia and then Kenya and then came to America as refugees. We had two of them come to Waynesboro to come talk and remind people why we do the CROP walk,” said Lohr.

“Part of the success, we are on the Steering Committee, we are visible and get our pictures in the paper. We get the publicity. The Recruiters are members of the congregations and talk up the walk and line up people to walk or make pledges and the walk relies on those Recruiters to get people excited about the walk. We usually have about 300 walkers. Some churches will have 30 and some will have 3 walkers,” said Tobias.

One of the benefits of the CROP walk is that there is a true place for every congregation, from small to large. There is also a place for small or large donations. “We’re grateful for everything,” said Lohr. There are many walks now; the CROP walk now falls in that category. But because this has always been church related, the congregations become the pool of resources.

Keep A Long-Standing Event Going In Lean Years With Strong Support

“Before us, people have been interested in keeping the CROP walk going during lean times. I became involved in doing the CROP walk fifteen years ago. One woman was involved in the CROP walk and she sent out a postcard and she said “We have one last shot to do a crop walk” and everyone showed up. So there have been people that have kept it going. Now we are on the steering committee responsible for keeping it going,” said Lohr.

They had a challenging time with their 30th Anniversary CROP walk. Hurricane Katrina hit and fundraising was quite difficult. Last year’s walk realized most of its goals: it had 300 walkers and raised $32,000. We try to increase the goal and the challenge every year,” said Lohr. With this year’s CROP walk they expect to raise between $30,000 and $32,000.

Both Lohr and Tobais explain that having a dedicated committee makes the event successful. They are pleased with the success of the event but they are always looking to build and are open to adding more committee members, more volunteers that are enthusiastic about the Waynesboro-East Augusta CROP Hunger Walk. “It’s just an event that has a lot of coherence, it’s an event that a lot of people can do. It is an expression of the church and it succeeds in that way as well. I just happened to be an individual taken with that concept and planning it. We are always looking for people who have that passion for it,” said Lohr. Lohr explains that Steering Committee members cannot leave the committee unless they have tapped someone to be groomed to replace them.

“It is important to have the long term continuity. But keeping our eyes out for and looking for new people like we were. As we’ve thought about it, this has not been an unbroken success. I’m sure we are not going to be number one in the state every year. We are always encouraging new members in the steering committee, new people in the CROP walk,” said Tobias.

Get Volunteers Involved On Every Level

The walk after more than thirty years is well organized and everyone has a job to do. Logistics are well planned out. “Locally we start off in a park in Waynesboro. Start off at a stage in a park and start with a pep talk to remind them why they are doing it. If they have money they turn this in then. Along the route, approximately 3 miles, we have 2 or 3 watering stations. Recently we had a woman come up to us at music festival to ask if they could do a water stop for the walkers at their church. We have police usually do traffic control at main intersections. We get the local press to cover the CROP walk. The park service provides the electricity for the sound system and we also have refreshments before and after the event,” said Tobias. Between the water stops, they also have about twenty-five volunteers.

One of the things volunteers do is go ahead of time to mark the route, but two very creative volunteers have even made this an important part of the event that helps to keep the message of the CROP walk literally in front of the walkers all the time. “There is a father and son on our Steering Committee. They have posted signs along the walk, it will have a question related to world hunger and a little while later another sign will have the answer. This is a clever addition to the walk,” said Tobias.

A Key to Success: Planning Ahead of Time

Tobias suggests that churches interested in planning a CROP walk should contact Church World Service for information, that they offer excellent support. “The CROP walks occur all over the country and are supported by Church World Service. There are CROP Walk Coordinators that provide us with publicity and support and what works. They even furnished us with DVDs to show our congregations. As far as local Steering Committee, there are 6 or 8 of us and some of us have been a part of the committee. Recruiters from different congregations have been doing this for a long time and they really know how to talk it up. The CROP walk is always the last Sunday in September 30th. We start planning in March,” said Tobias.

“We get to the committee in April, before the summer hits to schedule some times during the summer to do the bulk of the planning. Before six weeks we hold a rally and the Recruiters come and other interested folks come and we attempt to get them exited about the event. The materials are in the hands of the Recruiters and they distribute them to the walkers and the ball starts rolling. The walkers start to raise money and the walk happens at the end of September. The high point of the season is the walk. Then people gather the donations and by the end October hope to have all the donations in. Between 6 and 8 sometimes as many as 10 volunteers, there is a person designated for each of these jobs. We’ve typically had 6 to 8 people,” said Lohr.

Use Technology As An Advantage

The Waynesboro-East Augusta CROP Hunger Walk now has a blog where people can find information about the walk: Waynesboro-East Augusta CROP Hunger Walk. “Because the Walk has almost become an ‘institution’ in the community, having a site on the Internet to post information about it and impressions/experience of it seemed like a logical move,” said Lohr.

Positive Personalities and Good Teamwork Leads to Focused Results

“The secret lies in the dedication of a handful of folks. The Steering Committee, it’s a good mix of personalities and we enjoy being with each other. No one is burning out and we enjoy working together. These are not things that are easy to ‘plug in’. Then the work itself for the CROP walk is enjoyable also,” said Lohr.