CHURCH GROUP WANTS PEOPLE TO TAKE A WALK.

Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer

Church World Service-CROP is looking for people interested in walking to raise money for hungry people around the world.

The Communities Reaching Out to People Walk for the Hungry, a regular community event across the country, is making a comeback in the Santa Clarita Valley.

The hunger walk used to be an annual event in the area until about seven years ago. But this year, a group of volunteers has committed to putting the event together on Oct. 25, said Emily Abbott, the Southwest regional director for Church World Service-CROP, an organization of Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and Christian churches that coordinates the interfaith fund-raisers.

``Santa Clarita Valley is doing it now, and that's very exciting,'' Abbott said.

The 10-kilometer walk will start and end at United Methodist Church of Valencia, 25718 N. McBean Parkway, said the Rev. Mary Jensen, a local pastor and organizer for the event. For those who cannot complete the entire distance, vans will be available to shuttle people to the finish, she said.

Seventy-five percent of money raised from the event will go to national and international organizations, such as CARE, the American Joint Jewish Distribution Committee and Lutheran World Relief. The remainder will go to the Santa Clarita Valley Food Bank, Abbott said.

Last year, $800,000 was raised in Southern California and Arizona, Abbott said. In addition, $3.3 million of the money raised across the country from hunger walks stayed in the United States, she said.

To participate in the CROP hunger walk, call [phone] or [phone].