CROP Walk Returns as Demand for Food Assistance Surges

More than 40 years in, the annual State College CROP Hunger Walk will step off Oct 18 amid soaring demand for help at the State College Food Bank, one of the charity’s beneficiaries. 

Several downtown churches take turns hosting the event, which has raised more than $733,000 since 1984, according to the Church World Service humanitarian group that sponsors hundreds of CROP walks nationwide.

Organizers in State College are hoping for a rebound after slippage in 2025, when 72 local participants raised about $12,600 to fight hunger. That was down from around 100 walkers and upward of $15,000 in each of the prior two years, said Carla Rossi, a committee member for the interfaith event. 

“I’ve always taken for granted that when I want something to eat, I can go get something to eat,” said Rossi, who is winding down after two decades as the walk treasurer. “Many people here locally and around the globe do not have that privilege.”

Any person, family or group can sign up and seek contributions as a participating party in the local walk, hosted this year by Grace Lutheran Church. The CROP acronym began in the late 1940s, first to reflect the Christian Rural Overseas Program that directed food for post-World War II recoveries in Europe and Asia.

Church World Service, or CWS, today puts three-quarters of CROP walk proceeds toward its overall work, in particular global efforts to address hunger. CWS returns up to 25% of each event’s fundraising total to local programs.

In the Centre Region, that means the State College Food Bank, which has seen explosive growth in food distributions. It reported serving 16,278 individuals last year, up 202% from 2021.

The food bank this year is serving an average of 600 households per month, up some 7% over the monthly figure in 2025, according to data it shared with StateCollege.com. Factors contributing to the higher demand likely include the end of pandemic-era government assistance, reductions in ongoing public assistance, the rising cost of food and the food bank’s increased capacity to help, business manager Heather Lee said.

“Events like the CROP walk are essential not only for generating financial support but also for increasing community awareness and strengthening support for our mission,” Lee wrote in an email. “The more people who are talking about, advocating for and fundraising around food insecurity in our community, the better.”

Meanwhile, Elkhart, Indiana-based CWS has seen more interest in CROP walks over the last 18-or-so months, community engagement specialist Belinda Addae said. Overall fundraising from the events last year approached $7 million, according to the organization.

CWS reports about 88% of raised funds go into its service work, the rest covering overhead expenses.

“Even the smallest amount you can give helps in magnificent ways,” said Addae, who works with the State College walk.

A $5 contribution, for instance, can become a 5-gallon canister of safe drinking water for a family in Serbia, while $22 can cover five chickens for a family in Tanzania, according to CWS.

Its records show the State College CROP Hunger Walk dates at least to 1984. The gathering has often inspired friendly competition among participating churches, said Dotty Delafield, of Harris Township, a longtime supporter. Her late parents, Ruth and Jim Kistler, were among the early organizers.

“I think in another lifetime, my mother might have wanted to be a missionary,” Delafield said. “And she had a real heart for people who didn’t have what she considered to be the basics.”

Ruth Kistler continued participating in the State College walk at least until 2010, when a photo shows four generations of her family on the roughly two-and-a-half-mile route. The founder of the Mid-State Literacy Council, Kistler died in December 2022 at age 99.

Today the participating host churches, in addition to Grace Lutheran, include St. Andrew’s Episcopal, State College Presbyterian and University Baptist and Brethren. The walk route this year begins at Grace Lutheran, at South Garner Street and East Beaver Avenue, and will take participants on a loop including Foster Avenue, University Drive, Easterly Parkway and Atherton Street.

Group and individual participants can sign up online in advance or register in person on Oct. 18 at Grace Lutheran. (Contributors can give through the webpage, too.) Registration is at 1:30 p.m. sharp; the walk, at 2 p.m.

Rossi said most people finish the walk in an hour to 90 minutes. She’s also recruiting help to keep the tradition going amid changes in leadership. The group is looking for a new chairperson and committee members.

The treasurer’s role — the position she’s vacating — has involved about 40 to 60 hours a year, Rossi said. Walk leadership opportunities are posted through Volunteer Centre County.

Delafield said the chance to assist people both nearby and internationally has long been part of the draw.

Locals “really do rally to make sure that all people have access to good food,” she said.

Adam Smeltz is a contributor to StateCollege.com. Reach him at asmeltz@gmail.com.