Countywide : 70 Take Giant Steps to Aid Poor Families

Under a hot summer sun, more than 70 people walked 17 miles from Long Beach to Huntington Beach on Wednesday as part of a 160-mile walkathon to raise money for poor families in Tijuana and Mexicali.

The group of mostly high school students were on the fourth day of an eight-day trek that began Sunday in Woodland Hills and ends Sunday in Tijuana.

Organizers are hoping to raise about $100,000 for Los Ninos, a San Ysidro nonprofit group.

Among the projects that Los Ninos sponsors are a plan to plant 1 million trees in Tijuana and programs that teach Mexicali women back-yard gardening and how to prepare nutritious foods inexpensively.

“This is a fun way to raise awareness among Americans about the needs of families at the U.S.-Mexican border,” said walkathon coordinator Graciela Cueva.

Cueva said that each participant pays $50 for each day of the walkathon, or $300 for the entire route. She said participants are sponsored by friends, their families or by businesses. Local churches provide lodging and food along the way, she said.

There was a cool sea breeze when the group started Wednesday’s walk from St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Long Beach, where they had stayed overnight. They took Pacific Coast Highway, and by the time the group hit Seal Beach the noonday sun was blazing.

“I like to walk, but the intense heat bothered me,” said Lois O’Shaugnessy, 70, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., on her fifth walkathon. She said she comes out to California every year just to join the trip.

After a brief stop at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Huntington Beach, the walkers took a bus to Oceanside, bypassing the sprawling Camp Pendleton Marine Base. They then walked about five miles to a local church where they planned to spend the night.

The group will pass through Encinitas and Chula Vista and finish the journey with a fiesta in Tijuana on Sunday.

“You get tired and get blisters on your feet, but it’s fun, “ said David Crotsco, 18, of San Luis Obispo. “It’s a great way to meet people.”

“We’re walking for a good cause,” said Alicia Vac, 17, a student at UCLA. “We know that what we’re doing will benefit people.”

Bud Fagen, 67, who drives a camper where some of the group’s food is stored, said he has participated in the walkathon for 11 years and plans to continue doing it.

“I love young people,” said Fagen, a Torrance resident. “They seem to enjoy having me around, and that’s why I’m doing this.”