MIDDLEBURY — Oct. 6 will mark the 36th year that Addison County volunteers will walk to raise money to fight hunger and poverty through the annual CROP Hunger Walk. Volunteers and walkers will begin on the Middlebury town green at 12:45 p.m.
In 2012, the Addison County Walk was the highest-grossing CROP walk in Vermont and was in the top 10, as far as money raised, out of 94 walks held in the six New England states and Lower Hudson Valley of New York. The Addison County CROP Hunger Walk raised $25,552 in 2012 (and $25,161 in 2011). 
Large donations were made to seven local hunger-fighting organizations: The John Graham Shelter in Vergennes; H.O.P.E. (Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects), the Middlebury Summer Lunch Program, the Have a Heart Food Shelf in Bristol; Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, the Vergennes Community Food Shelf, and the Middlebury Transitional Care Coalition (Middlebury Community Suppers). 
“CROP” stands for Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty. The annual CROP Hunger Walk is a program sponsored  and supported by local congregations, businesses, schools and individuals in partnership with Church World Service, an international relief, development and refugee resettlement agency. Twenty-five percent of funds raised go to local food shelves.
People of all ages and abilities are encouraged to walk. Participants from previous years have included families with strollers to those with canes and wheelchairs. Sign-up is needed before one can obtain pledges. Most local congregations have a designated recruiter who will provide registration packets. New groups or individuals not connected with a congregation can obtain packets by calling Patty Hallam at 388-1561. Sign-up and pledging can also be done online at www.churchworldservice.org.