Crop Walk

Jesus tells us in Mathew 25:35, that at the end of my life, God will ask me what did I do to care for my neighbors – "for I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink". Along with such things as welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, or visiting the imprisoned, these are the important things for how I will be held accountable for God’s gift of my life. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Around the world, there are over 828 million of our neighbors who go to bed hungry every night including a record 345 million on the brink of starvation. Unfortunately, this represents a significant increase and basically erases the advances we’ve made over the past few years to eradicate hunger – this is largely due to the pandemic, climate changes, and the war in Ukraine. Here at home, in America, there are 24 million households – not individuals, but women, men, children – that don’t have enough to eat during the week.

CROP Walk is a group of local Brighton-area churches who get together every October to raise money to fight back against hunger. This is my chance, our chance, to demonstrate love for our neighbors by feeding the hungry both here in our community (25% of all donations) and abroad. Not just by giving them food, but by teaching them how to raise their own food – ensuring they have seeds to plant, crops to harvest, and farm animals to raise. By helping them to build wells for clean drinking water. And by stocking local food pantries and distribution systems such as Bountiful Harvest, The Torch Food truck, and Love, INC.

So stop by the Charity & Justice table to donate to CROP Walk or, better yet, join us on October 16th from 1 to 3pm at the United Methodist church on Grand River. Just pick up an envelope at the C&J table and return it that Sunday as we gather with other churches to see and talk to the local organizations that we support with our donations. You can also donate online – https://events.crophungerwalk.org/2022/st-mary-magdalen .

Now, on a personal note, the Charity & Justice Ministry wants to thank you for the tremendous generosity you’ve shown year after year. Even during the pandemic, we at St. Mary Magdalen, raised over $5,000 to feed the hungry. May God bless you all. And thank you.