CHARITY WALK TO MAKE STRIDES FOR NEEDY.

Byline: Alicia Doyle Daily News Staff Writer

Thousands of walkers throughout Ventura County are expected to raise nearly $90,000 to help feed the hungry Sunday as part of the Ventura County Hunger Coalition's 19th annual Crop Walk.

Coordinated solely by local volunteers, the walks are community events which build support for local and global needs, said Jeanine Faria, organizer of the event.

This year, participants are expected to take part in walks in Camarillo, the Conejo Valley, Ojai, Oxnard, Santa Paula and Ventura.

"The theme for the Crop Walks has always been 'We walk because they walk,' " Faria said. "Our walking is a way of identifying with people who walk for firewood, water, medical assistance, and in our country who walk to a soup kitchen or food pantry."

The walks are usually scheduled on the second Sunday in March. In Ventura County, Crop Walks started in the late '70s - the first walk took place as an activity of the Ventura County Hunger Coalition in 1978.

The Church World Service, an international relief, development and refugee agency, began the Christian Relief Overseas Project Walk in 1946 by persuading American farmers to donate surplus crops to European countries suffering from the devastation of World War II.

Now in their 51st year, Crop Walk fund-raisers are held annually around the country and raised more than $20 million for local international agencies in 1994.

Participants seek sponsors who pledge funds, sometimes a fixed amount and sometimes per kilometer. Typically, the walks are 10 kilometers in distance to symbolize the average distance people in some nations must walk daily for water, organizers said.

Seventy-five percent of the money collected goes to the international hunger relief efforts of Church World Service, while the remaining 25 percent is spent on local hunger relief efforts, organizers said.

Last year, 2,000 communities nationwide participated in raising $12 million. Ventura County alone raised roughly $88,000, Faria said.

This year, Ventura County agencies which will receive Crop Walk funds include Food Share, Inc. and Project Hope in Camarillo; Catholic Charities and Food Pantry in Moorpark; and HELP of Ojai. Oxnard Community Food Pantry and Bread for Life will also receive funds, as well as Santa Paula and Conejo Valley Meals on Wheels, and Ventura's Focus on Food Emergency Pantry.

Annell LaBarge, Crop Walk coordinator in Ojai, said most people are attracted to the event because it gives them a chance to help agencies close to home.

"Donating to many programs today is a matter of sending a check to some place far away," LaBarge said. "But with the Crop Walk, participants are able to do something for a worldwide program, while also giving to people in the community who need help."

Registration for all walks will begin at 12:30 p.m.

Camarillo will start at St. Columba's Episcopal Church, 1251 Las Posas Road.

Conejo Valley will start at California Lutheran University's athletic field.

Ojai walkers will start at Sarzotti Park, 510 Park Road.

Oxnard/Port Hueneme will start at Our Saviour's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 905 W. Redwood St.

Santa Paula's route will start at Veteran's Memorial Park, 970 Ventura Ave.

Ventura walkers will start at Cabrillo Middle School, 1426 E. Santa Clara.

For more information, call Jeanine Faria at [phone].