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Members of the Jaffrey Woman’s Club and Kathleen LaRou of the Jaffrey Food Pantry (second from right) at Saturday’s Monadnock Hunger Walk in Rindge. -
Walkers follow a rail trail in Woodmere for a loop of 3 1/2 miles. -
From left, Preston Wakeman, Dwight Schenk and Linda Wakeman hand out water and apples at the turnaround point on the course. -
From left, Denise Whitney, Hannah Hardwick and Meg Hardwick of The Masiello Group walking team steered their donations to End 68 Hours of Hunger.
People in the region took steps toward reducing food insecurity by participating in the Monadnock Hunger Walk Saturday.
Area churches, food pantry volunteers and other individuals met at the Advent Lutheran Church in Rindge before 9 a.m. for a 3 1/2-mile walk on the rail trail paralleling Route 202 to raise funds for organizations that meet increasing needs for food among those who struggle to have enough of it.
This was the eighth Monadnock Hunger Walk, and the event changes locations year by year, with two recent ones having stepped off in Hancock and Peterborough. Stewart Harris of Troy showed up in Rindge, explaining that “It’s scary bad this year, what’s going on, and there’s an extra need to help out.”
The Jaffrey Woman’s Club forms a team to walk each year to support the Jaffrey Food Pantry. Kathleen LaRou, director of the pantry, sported a “Let’s end hunger” T-shirt and said that “This effort is needed now more than ever,” explaining that “Donations are down in summer, as people mostly think of supporting us around Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
LaRou added that the past six months have seen a steady increase in need for the pantry’s services, explaining that groceries and the gasoline required to go shopping for them are more expensive.
“There’s no judging about using the food pantry,” LaRou said, adding that people can drive up and get what they need without a lot of interaction if desired.
A trio from The Masiello Group real estate office sported green shirts made for the event. Sales Director Denise Whitney said that the group has previously done a number of walks.
“We did it virtually — not with others — during COVID, and are doing it to support End 68 Hours,” she said, referring to the organization that addresses childhood hunger between the free lunch they receive in school Friday and the free breakfast they receive in school Monday, which has a ConVal chapter.
Groups and individuals who made donations could target their funds to their organization of choice, be it End 68 Hours of Hunger, a local food pantry or the New Hampshire Food Bank.
Bob Marone, pastor of the Union Congregational Church in Peterborough walked again this year, and has targeted his funds for Church World Service, explaining that as important as it is to help those struggling locally with food insecurity, there are countless others elsewhere in the world in more-perilous situations.
“The idea of walking for this cause was spawned by the notion ‘We walk because they walk,’” he explained, adding that “In many parts of the world, people walk miles to get food and firewood to cook, often in dangerous situations”
At a “refueling stand” after 1 3/4 miles, Preston and Linda Wakeman handed out apples and water to walkers alongside Dwight Schenk, who credited the Wakemans with helping out in other ways, such as posting signage for the course and acquiring the water, which was donated by Shaw’s.
Schenk also steered a lot of credit to Julie Flood Page, the organizer of the walk who was on the homestretch of the course in her ninth year walking.
The Jaffrey Woman’s Club raised nearly $3,000 through their efforts. Among the organizations that will benefit from the walk are the Antrim-Bennington Food Pantry, the Greenfield Food Pantry and End 68 Hours of Hunger, Jaffrey Food Pantry, Peterborough Food Pantry, Rindge Food Pantry/Got Lunch and others.
All of the 33 walkers who participated were back at the starting point by 10:15 a.m., and in an email later Saturday, Schenk stated that they collectively raised $10,215 for organizations in the area and beyond.