SUNY Cortland Supports 2017 CROP Hunger Walk

12/04/2017

Almost all of this year’s participants in October’s successful Cortland-area CROP Hunger Walk were SUNY Cortland students, with 94 percent of the walkers coming from the College.

The Oct. 22 walk raised $8,900 to fight world hunger and support local food pantries. A total of $5,698 was provided by College clubs and student organizations. The other 36 percent of funds were raised through churches in Cortland and Homer.

“For the past 12 years the SUNY Cortland community has been a major factor in the success of the Cortland-area CROP Hunger Walk,” said Jim Miller, history lecturer and the local CROP Walk coordinator. “The vast majority of the walkers are SUNY Cortland students. This provides a very visible and tangible example of the positive energy students contribute to the community.”

Cortland-area food pantries and feeding programs will receive 25 percent of the funds raised by the event, with the remainder going to anti-hunger programs sponsored by around the world. Church World Service sponsored 1,000 similar walks across the U.S. and raised $10 million for food banks and other similar programs across the country in 2016.

The 23rd annual event is supported by a number of campus organizations, with donations coming from SUNY Cortland’s athletic teams, fraternities and sororities, clubs, and COR 101, the semester-long orientation class taken by all first-year students. For the first time, residence halls were included in the 2017 awards.

Several campus groups received plaques as recognition for their contributions. The softball team was the athletic leader for a third consecutive year, raising $1,300 and edging the women’s lacrosse team by just $143. Delta Phi Epsilon sorority raised $415 to lead all Greek organizations. Eta Sigma Gamma, the College’s chapter of the National Health Education Honorary, raised $320 to lead campus and club organizations. COR 101 teaching assistants raised $278 to top the COR 101 teams and Clark Hall raised $159 to place first in the inaugural residence hall competition.

Softball team athletic winners