The author and her family in front of a helicopter at Camp Mabry, the site of the Austin CROP Hunger Walk. Courtesy photo.
Fifty years ago, I was married to a minister. We served the First Christian Church in Killeen, Texas. As the minister’s wife, I needed to find my way to serve, which turned out to be as a sponsor of the youth group. At that time, many young soldiers from Fort Hood, teenagers themselves, attended our youth groups and events. The young soldiers made wonderful additions to the group and we watched painfully when they left for Vietnam. It was in Killeen that I first participated in a CROP activity. At that time, teens went door-to-door raising money as part of the Walk.
Interestingly, Dwight Lindsley, a friend of mine from our days at Texas Christian University, served in the late 1980’s as the Texas state director for CWS and the CROP Hunger Walks. Dwight told me how much he appreciated working with Harold Guess, another friend from TCU who coordinated the Austin CROP Hunger Walk at that time.
Last month, my current and forever husband, three of our grown children, four grandchildren and a young friend joined me for the Austin Walk. Before starting, I visited individually with each child about the reason for the walk and the suffering caused by world hunger. I told the children that no one in our group has ever really felt true hunger. Many people around the world currently face starvation and we walk to remember and to raise money to help end this misery. Twenty five percent of the CROP money will help hungry people in Austin. The rest will go towards reducing world hunger.
The youngest child was eight years old, so I felt confident that each one understood. We agreed that I would sponsor each person in our group. At the end of the walk, the children added up their miles as well as the miles their parents walked. I paid each child and sent each one to turn in the cash. How amazing that after more than fifty years, CROP continues to take steps to toward ending world hunger.