CROP WALK TO AID NEEDY; 5-MILE VALENCIA ROUTE PLANNED.

Byline: Tere Marshall Daily News Staff Writer

The Santa Clarita Valley Interfaith Council of Churches will hold its annual CROP Walk on Saturday to raise money for the world's needy.

The walk will start at 1:30 p.m., beginning and ending at United Methodist Church of Valencia, 25718 N. McBean Parkway.

The route will be five miles long, with opportunities for shorter distances. There will be 30 minutes of registration and festivities preceding the walk.

Official Hunger Walk sponsor record forms are available by calling [phone].

The CROP, or Communities Reaching Out to People, Walks raise money for the needy all over the world. Walks are held in nearly 2,000 communities in the United States each year and have raised more than $124 million in the past 10 years.

The money is used to buy seeds, tools and irrigation, build mother-child clinics, teach literacy and vocation training and provide disaster assistance worldwide.

The CROP program works through a network of partner agencies in more than 70 countries to help deliver not only food and shelter, but also training for food production, family health, water resource development and more.

Twenty-five percent of the money collected will benefit agencies that are meeting the needs of hungry people in the Santa Clarita area, such as the Santa Clarita Food Pantry, the Church of Hope Food Pantry, the United Methodist Church of Valencia's FISH, or Feeding Individuals and Sharing Hope, Program and the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church.

The Interfaith Council, a coalition of local congregations, exists to find what they have in common, including spiritual and physical concerns for the community.

``We look for things we can all get behind,'' said Jerry Bathke, a member of the group. ``We are interested in any cause that involves food and shelter, as well as the healing of hearts and opening of the mind. We're all learning tolerance and appreciation for each other.''

More than 20 religious groups in the Santa Clarita Valley are represented at the Interfaith Council monthly meetings from Christian, Islam, Jewish, Baha'i, Mormon and Catholic congregations. They are committed to sponsoring events like Saturday's community walk.

The council is seeking donations from the business community to pay for merchandise, tickets or coupons for services to be given out as prizes at future events.

For information, call Bathke at [phone] or write to the Interfaith Council at 24169 Mentry Drive, Newhall, CA 91321.