As Syeisha Byrd grew up on the Westside of Syracuse, her mother handed groceries out of her own fridge to those less fortunate and invited neighborhood kids who otherwise couldn’t eat to have meals with her family. 

That’s why Sunday’s CROP Hunger Walk meant more to her than any other social service event she is involved in throughout the year.

‘It is because I lived through it, I’ve seen it,’ said Byrd, director of Hendricks Chapel’s Office of Engagement. ‘Growing up and being raised in Syracuse, I understand how it feels to be hungry when you don’t have.’

Byrd, along with a coalition of Syracuse University students, walked for 3.5 miles Sunday afternoon to raise money and awareness for world hunger, which affects 1.2 billion people globally. The 31st annual Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty Walk started in front of Hendricks Chapel and ended at Clinton Circle. A representative of Church World Services, which co-sponsored the event with the Office of Engagement, met the group at the end of the walk.

Ten percent of households in the United States, or 35.5 million Americans, including 12.6 million children, go hungry or are at risk of hunger each year, according to a CROP brochure.

‘We are doing it to fight hunger. There’s enough food in the world that nobody should have to go without it. It’s a necessity,’ said Joe Gennaro, a member of the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega and junior information studies major.

Adrian Carter, a senior chemistry education major, said he chose to participate because he thinks it is important students get off campus and become involved supporting the community.

Byrd and graduate assistant Erica Monnin used technology and student organizations to gather student volunteers. They sent out e-mails to every group they could reach and to people on the Hendrick’s engagement office e-mail list, which has more than 1,000 names. In addition, the office promoted the walk on its website, Facebook page and a giant banner on the side of Hendricks that provided information about the CROP walk.

The walk ‘unites the community,’ Monnin said. ‘On a campus with as many people, there are students involved in so many things all over the place. This is a good uniting thing to do.’ 

Byrd and Monnin said the office was hoping to attract students and donations similar to last year’s outcome, when roughly 150 students made around $300 in charity. This year, the walk attracted approximately 120 walkers.

Monnin said she doesn’t expect college students to have the luxury to donate a lot of money, but raising awareness is a more important aspect of the event. 

‘We understand working with college students, raising money is probably not going to be the most successful thing. We’re really pushing for awareness and to get people involved and get people interested in service,’ Monnin said.

Laurel Carmichael, a sophomore biology major, said she thinks the walk is important for students to understand the reach of poverty and hunger.

‘I feel like a lot of students at this university come from a more wealthy background, so it’s harder for them to realize that there are people who can’t afford food and can’t get food,’ Carmichael said. ‘So it’s important to do this walk, so they realize this stuff is happening.’

dgproppe@syr.edu

Published on October 17, 2010 at 12:00 pm