500 Walk to Raise Funds to Aid Hungry

With straw hats, sunglasses and comfortable shoes, more than 500 children and adults ambled, skipped or wheeled through Woodland Hills on Sunday to help raise money to feed the hungry.

At this year’s “CROP Hunger Walk,” a fund-raiser by Communities Reaching Out to People, participants from nearly 50 organizations--mostly churches and synagogues--began gathering at Kol Tikvah temple early under the sweltering afternoon sun.

Although this annual event has been held in the San Fernando Valley for 22 years, it is the first time that it has been hosted by a Jewish temple, organizers said.

Last year, the walk happened to fall on Mitzvah Day, the Jewish “day of good deeds,” and Kol Tikvah had more participants and raised more money than any other group, said Debbie Guy-Girbovan, coordinator for the walk, which is organized by the Valley Interfaith Council and Church World Service.

Coinciding with Mitzvah Day again this year, the fund-raiser attracted Christian and Jewish congregations from all over the Valley. With more participants than ever before, the event is expected to raise more than the $37,000 generated last year, organizers said.

“It’s an honor to host. It’s a way of giving back to the community,” said Sandy Calin, member of Kol Tikvah’s board of directors.

Outside the temple, some participants toted helium-filled balloons as others clutched bottles of drinking water. They streamed westward up Ventura Boulevard at their own pace.

“It’s good exercise and it’s for a good cause,” said Jennifer Samuel, 15, pacing briskly while carrying a cardboard sign announcing her congregation, Woodland Hills Presbyterian Church.

But the power walkers were decidedly outnumbered by folks looking like they were just taking a leisurely stroll.

Senior citizens in sun visors ambled along, chattering and laughing in small groups. New parents pushed perambulators, while older brothers and sisters tagged along. They cornered, slowly, onto Canoga Avenue, around to Burbank Boulevard, down De Soto Avenue, then eastward to the temple for a five-kilometer loop.

A separate two-kilometer path looped around Taft High School--much to Doris Johnson’s relief. Johnson, 70, a retired real estate broker who lives in Tarzana, can’t walk because she suffered a stroke.

So she rolled--in a jogging suit and an electric wheelchair.

“I don’t usually walk that far, but I will today,” Johnson said. “It’s worthwhile, because it’s helping others.”