[Archived from September 25, 2009]
On Monday, Yom Kippur, many within the Jewish community will fast. We will feel the gnawing pain of hunger, and as the day wears on, our ability to concentrate will gradually lessen. However, we know at the end of the day, we will be able to sit down and eat again.
Our hunger is voluntary and temporary. There are many people, here in Louisville and in communities around the world who are not so fortunate. Hunger pangs haunt them daily. They never know where or when they will get their next meal.
This year, with the economic instability in the world economy, people who never expected to experience food insecurity are turning to the Jewish Family & Career Services Food Pantry and/or Dare to Care.
On Sunday, October 18, you can be part of the solution. Sign up today to participate in the Annual Hunger Walk and Run. Registration begins at noon; an opening rally will kick off the festivities at 2 p.m., and the walk and run will start at 2:15.
Participants will follow a 5K course that will cross the George Rogers Clark Bridge and return to the Festival Plaza, where a Fun Fair and Expo will await all participants.
Register in advance online at http://www.thehungerwalk.org/. Registration fees are $25 for adults and $15 for youths, 18 and under, on or before October 14. Late registrations, $35 for adults and $25 for youths, will be accepted October 15-18. Additional donations are welcome.
Race day packages will be available on October 18, from noon-2 p.m. at Waterfront Park’s Festival Plaza. Registered participants will receive a commemorative t-shirt, a goody bag and refreshments. They will also be eligible for race prizes.
“Our community has always been an ardent and dependable supporter of this important yearly initiative,” said Leon Wahba, CRC’s (Community Relations Council) Hunger Walk chair. “The need this year is all the greater as our economy continues to struggle and so many of our friends and neighbors struggle to stay afloat.”
“In the spirit of the New Year,” he continued, “I hope that each congregation’s Social Action Committee will promote their congregants’ participation. … I always get a small lump in my throat when I note that the annual walk is led by the Boy Scouts of The Temple. So bring your families down to Waterfront Park on Sunday, October 18th, and join us for this pleasant mitzvah.”
Seventy-five percent of the net proceeds from the 2008 Hunger Walk will go to the Dare to Care Food Bank’s Emergency Food Purchasing Program, which provides nutritious food, including produce, to over 100,000 people in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. With a network of over 300 nonprofit partners in 13 Kentuckiana counties, including Jewish Family & Career Services’ Food Pantry, Dare to Care distributes over 10 million pounds of food each year.
The remaining 25 percent will go to the World Food Program, the world’s leading international hunger relief agency.
The Hunger Walk’s primary sponsors are Kroger, Dare to Care, Kentuckiana Interfaith Community and Yum! The Jewish Community of Louisville’s Community Relations Council, a member of Kentuckiana Interfaith Community, is also a sponsor, along with Sheehy & Associates, Passport Health Plan, PNC Bank, UPS, Louisville Pure Tap, WHAS11, American Commercial Lines, Interfaith Paths to Peace, the Association of Community Ministries and the Coalition for the Homeless.
Registration forms are available at Louisville’s congregations. For more information about the Hunger Walk, contact Dare to Care, 966-3821, or Leon Wahba.