News




Holden's 2008 Cropwalk will take place on Sunday, October 19th. Registration begins at 1:00 p.m. at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Jefferson. Our goal for the 2008 Cropwalk is $15,000. This is our 30th Cropwalk so we want to break our previous records!


  • The funds raised by CROPWALK are used by Church World Service to provide disaster relief, refugee assistance and self-help development programs in over eighty countries throughout the world. Church World Service recognizes that for projects to be successful, programs must come from the people themselves, not imposed by others. Church World Service supports local partner agencies that share the vision of empowering self-help.


    • Following are some examples of the assistance provided by CWS over the past year:

  • SUDAN
    More than 2 million people in the Darfur region of western Sudan have been uprooted from their homes by widespread violence, including the burning of villages. As many as 4,000,000 people have been killed by ethnic violence or have died from hunger or disease. The U.S. Congress and others have named it genocide. Most of the displaced families are living in makeshift camps in west, north, and south Darfur, ad more than 200,000 have fled across the border into Chad. Humanitarian needs are urgent. In a coalition effort, Church World Service is helping to provide food, medicines, water, sanitation, agricultural inputs, tools, and counseling to some of the most vulnerable of the uprooted people in the Darfur. The program includes a supplemental feeding program for malnourished children.



  • INDONESIA
    Church World Service is working to respond to the needs of more than 16,000 households in the wake of the May 27th earthquake that hit central Java. Some 80 to 98 percent of houses are damaged and hundreds of people injured in each affected village visited, reports the mobile medical teams of the CWS partner, Yakkum Emergency Unit. Shelter, latrines (or other sanitation facilities), food, and essential non-food items are badly needed.
    CWS, with local Indonesian partners, is distributing bottled water, food items, Health and Baby Kits, family tents, and blankets. On day one, CWS helped provide water and blankets for Bethesda Hospital, where many earthquake survivors are being treated.
    "Indonesia is still recovering from tsunami devastation", says Donna Derr, Director of CWS Emergency Response. "Our hearts are with those affected by the latest earthquake in Java and those who may have lost loved ones."
    A CWS Indonesia psychosocial support team will be working with affected people who are afraid to live in their homes (if undamaged), shocked by loud noises, and having trouble sleeping.

CROP WALKS as a foundation for Church World Service

The devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita staggers our imagination and burdens our hearts - so much loss of innocent life. Stirred by compassion, millions of people want to respond to the suffering. From Girl Scout troops to the federal government, in ways great and small, individuals and groups are reaching out to help. Church World Service is grateful to be one vehicle of that heartfelt response.
The contributions we receive to our Hurricane Recovery appeal are helping us respond to both the immediate needs and the long-term recovery of these shattered communities. It is important to remember, however, that the reason CWS is able to make such a swift and effective response to this disaster (within hours) is in large part because of the ongoing support raised by communities across this nation through CROP WALKS.
CROP WALKS form the foundation for the work of Church World Service - without them we would not be in a position to respond. Thanks to the support we had staff trained in emergency response immediately available and could begin shipping material assistance (Kits and blankets) to the affected areas within hours.
Thanks to CROP WALKS, we'll be ready when the next emergency occurs. Because of CROP WALKS we are at work in over 80 countries responding to the quiet devastation that hunger, poverty, and disease (which may not make the evening news) that shatters lives as surely as a hurricane.



For more information about how the money we raise is used, visit www.churchworldservice.org.

If you would like to learn more about CROPWALK or download graphics and bulletin inserts please visit www.cropwalk.org