Walkers and joggers from the Ames community traveled 10 kilometers by foot to conquer world hunger Sunday.

The CROPWALK, which was held Sunday afternoon at Brookside Park, 1325 6th St., allowed hundreds of walkers and joggers to collect donations in order to help end hunger locally and globally.

Louise Dengler, co-treasurer of CROPWALK, said the money will also help communities work together for others, support long-term grassroots development in order to keep kids fed and off the street, bring people closer together as a community making a positive difference in fighting world hunger, help meet the special needs of refugees and assist people after unscheduled disasters.

“Donations are not just used to give food to those in need, but [for] educating those and helping those begin reforestation production, irrigation and development with clean water wells,” Dengler said. “This is done so they are not always in need but start fending for themselves.”

She said CROPWALK was organized by the Church World Service (CWS), which is a ministry of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States.

In partnership with indigenous organizations in more than 70 countries, including the United States, CWS offers opportunities to join a people-to-people network of local and global caring through participation in CROPWALKS, such as the one held in Ames.

“This event does not exclude organizations other than churches,” Dengler said. “Anyone and anybody can participate.”

In the last eight to 10 years, 37 local organizations have participated in CROPWALK in some way.

Karl Koch, co-treasurer of CROPWALK, said because CROPWALKs are ecumenical, interfaith events, sponsors may designate their gifts to other approved international hunger-fighting agencies such as Adventist Development and Relief Agency or World Relief/National Association of Evangelicals.

“Every piece of revenue that is donated to CROPWALK we locally keep 25 percent, which is given to the Mid-Iowa Community Action, and they provide a food pantry for local residents who need a little help,” Koch said.

The Ames CROPWALK is annually organized by a committee of seven to eight people. The chairperson is responsible for the project and delegates duties.

Recruitment chairs send letters to organizations in September, and the publicity crew maps out the CROPWALK course, marks guiding signs around Ames for the course and brings treats for the walkers and joggers.

The treasurers account for the money donated to CROPWALK and records these donations with the Internal Revenue Service, who keeps the records on file for three to five years in Elkard, Ind.

“After the September recruitment letters are sent, the CROPWALK-sponsored envelopes will be mailed five to six weeks to the participating joggers and walkers,” Koch said.

“We try to encourage the joggers and walkers to receive donations up front, because it is easier than tracking the donators down again. But donators can pay a couple days after the CROPWALK event,” he said.

“This year we had celebrity walkers who were the Iowa State women’s basketball team, who did sign autographs before the CROPWALK,” Koch said.

The 10K path took CROPWALK participants anywhere from half-an-hour to four hours to complete, Dengler said.

“The donations are not based on how many kilometers someone travels,” she said. “Instead, people just donate an amount to the cause, which is visually shown when people walk and jog throughout the Ames community.”

Local donations for the fighting hunger event have ranged from $12,000 to $17,000 in past years, Dengler said.

“It’s great! We’re healthy, so we can do it.” said Allen Trenkle, professor of animal science at Iowa State and CROPWALK jogger for United Church of Christ.

“The CROPWALK route took me about 58 minutes, it was well marked and a beautiful day,” Trenkle said.