On Sunday, June 3, residents of Southwick and Granville will step out for the fortieth year in a row to express their concern and raise money for people all over the world who have to walk every day for food, shelter, water or mere survival. CROP Hunger Walks are the oldest in the country, and the Southwick/Granville CROP Walk is the longest running in New England. Over the past forty years, residents here have raised just under one-quarter of a million dollars for people in need (they’ll reach that goal this year)!
Southwick/Granville’s first walk in 1973 was started by a couple of high school students, Diana(Englehardt) Smyth and Eric Nitsch, who were inspired by their church youth groups to do something about famine in the world. Diana Smyth, who now serves with her husband Randy Smyth as a missionary in Papua New Guinea, said, “Anyone would have a heart to help with those who are hungry. It’s something that our Christian heritage has taught us.”
Following that beginning, Diana’s grandmother Marian Anderson took over as coordinator of the Walk for several years. Marian, who passed away a couple of years ago, still participated in the Walk at age one hundred, along with her daughter Alice Engelhardt, Diana’s mother.
Now, the Southwick/Granville CROP Hunger Walk has become a Cigal family-led event, with several dozen members of four generations of Cigals coming together to coordinate, organize, and inspire the community to keep in mind children, no matter where they live, who don’t have enough to eat. Twenty-five percent of the CROP Walk’s proceeds go to the Southwick Food Pantry, as well as to impoverished communities around the world. Clayton Cigal, Sr. credits Carolyn Mills, the previous coordinator, with passing the torch and the mantle to him, and he doesn’t regret it. He always says that as long as one child still goes to bed hungry, he’ll keep going.
The CROP Hunger Walk is also a festive event, with music and food and t-shirts and balloons, and a lot of good vibrations. It’s not too late to sign up. Registration begins at 12:00 pm at the Southwick Congregational Church, 488 College Highway in Southwick. Each walker will be given a free T-shirt bearing the names of local business sponsors. The walk route goes down Depot Street to the Rail Trail, then to the end of Congamond Road and back to the church. Along the way, there will be rest stops with homemade cookies, candy and plenty of water. At the end of the walk, the Cigal family, sponsors and volunteers – many from the Southwick Rotary Club – will show their appreciation with an Old Fashioned Picnic, along with live musical entertainment by Sam Chevalier.
People may register online for the walk at www.cropwalkonline.org/southwickma. For more information, call Clayton Cigal, Sr. Coordinator at 413-569-3371, Clayton Cigal, Jr., co-coordinator at [email protected] or Marie Daniels, Treasurer, at [email protected].
