About CROP

What’s in an acronym?

CROP began as the Christian Rural Overseas Program in 1947 through Church World Service, an initiative driven by America’s Midwestern farmers to help the hungry and displaced refugees in post-World War II Europe and Asia.

Though the program has long since been disbanded, the spirit of the program—feeding the world’s hungry—and the CROP name live on, thanks to the more than 2,000 CROP WALKs each year throughout the nation.

In fact, in many communities, CROP eventually came to stand for Communities Reaching out to People. In the past several years, the acronym has changed again, to Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty, emphasizing one of the walk’s core missions.

The first CROP WALK in the United States took place on Oct. 17, 1969, in Bismarck, North Dakota, with 1,000 walkers hiking 25 — yes, 25! — miles and raising $25,000.

For more details about CROP Walks nationally see: http:// www.cropwalk.org