Walk
from page At
on CROP Walks, which are
held in more than 2j(XX) com
munities nationwide every
year. Hinds said that hunger
kills more people a year than
AIDS, malaria and tuberculo
sis combined. And with the
price of food going up around
the world, the need is greater
than ever.
The local need is great too,
according to Tommy Cole,
director of Sunnyside
Ministries, which has seen a
"tremendous increase" in
demand for assistance.
"It's like the perfect storm:
the economy goes down,
donations go down, the need
goes up all at the same time,"
said Cole
Sandy McCutchen, chair
of the walk's planning com
mittee, said thai, the turnout
was greater this year and it
needed to be.
"I really think there is a
great need for those of us who
have so much to share our
resources withjhose who are
suffering," she said. "And this
year it's a terrible year interna
tionally in terms of people
who are going hungry and who
are coming to these organiza
tions for food supplies."
She credited the increased
turns out to the aggressive
recruitment that was done.
Churches that participated in
past walks were called upon,
and a luncheon with leaders of
African-American churches
was held to woo them to the
cause.
While anyone can take part
in the CROP Walk, it's congre
gations that make up most of
A - Photo# by Todd Luck
A group of walkers from Forsyth Park Baptist Church.
First Baptist members James and F ontiane Gra\
am.
the walking groups. Churches
like First Baptist Church on
Highland Avenue showed up
in force this year.
It has been some time since
.First Baptist had taken part in
the event, but Pastor Darryl
Aaron, who has been on the
job for just 10 months, has a
special connection to Crisis
Control: he's a board member.
"Anytime a church can get
involved in something like
this, it gives clarity to our mis
sion," said Aaron.
Fifty members of Aaron's
flock joined the walk, raising
$2, (XX).
James and Fontiane
Graham were among the First
Baptist walkers.
"Our church is about serv
ice," said Fontaine Graham. "I
love helping people."
Another new pastor also
led his congregation at the
walk, the Rev. John Krivsky
has been pastor of Forsyth
Park Baptist Church for less
than a year. He was encour
aged to join the efforts by
members like Dennis Haytt, a
Crop Walk veteran who's par;
ticipated in the event at least
10 times.
Krivsky brought along his
wife, Beth, and their children.
The couple said the event pro
vided an excellent opportunity
for families to bond for a good
cause.
More than $1 million has
been raised in the 26 years that
the CROP Walk has been held
in Forsyth County. This year,
the goal was to raise $66,000.
So far only $53,000 has been
pledged, but McCutchen is
confident the final tally will
be closer to the goal . Next
year's walk is already slated
for the third Sunday in
October.
Civil rights legend Dees
will give speech at WSSU
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Successful entrepreneur,
civil rights activist and attor
ney, noted author, and co
founder of the Southern
Poverty Law Center Morris
Dees will keynote Winston
Salem State University's J.
Out of this deeply personal
moment grew the Southern
Poverty Law Center. Dees
began taking controversial
cases that were highly unpopu
lar in the white community He
filed suit to stop construction
of a white university in an
Alabama city that already had
Alston Atkins
Memorial Lecture
in Constitutional
Law on Thursday,
Oct. 30, at 7:30
p.m. in Dillard
Auditorium of
WSSU's Albert H.
Anderson
Conference
Center.
Sponsored by
the law firm
K i 1 p a t r i c k
Dees
a predominantly black
state college. In 1969,
he filed suit to inte
grate the all-white
Montgomery YMCA.
As he continued to
pursue equal opportu
nities for minorities
and the poor. Dees
and his law partner
Joseph J. Levin, Jr.
saw the need for a
non-profit organiza
Stockton, this year's Jasper
Alston Atkins Lecture is free
and open to the public Dees'
remarks will be followed by a
question and answer forum
and a book signing.
In 1967, Dees had achieved
extraordinary business and
financial success with his book
publishing company. The son
of an Alabama farmer, he wit
nessed firsthand the painful
consequences of prejudice and
racial injustice. He sympa
thized with the Civil Rights
Movement, but had not
become actively involved. A
night of soul searching at a
snowed-in Cincinnati airport
changed his life, inspiring
Dees to leave his safe, busi
ness-as-usual world and under
take a new mission.
uon aeuicaiea to seeking jus
tice. In 1971, the two lawyers
and civil rights activist Julian
Bond founded the Southern
Poverty Law Center.
In his pioneering role at the
Center, Dees participated in
suing hate groups and mapping
new directions for the Center
In addition to his work for
the Center, Dees has authored
three books and frequently
speaks to colleges and univer
sities, legal associations and
other groups throughout the
country.
Because seating for the lec
ture is limited, people interest
ed in attending are urged to go
to the WSSU Web site,
www.wssu.edu, and click
Atkins Lecture to notify the
university of their intention to
attend.
Advocacy
from page A7
second opinion, and change
health care providers.
How can I advocate for my
community?
There are also many easy
ways you can advocate to
improve or change things in
your community, such as:
- Calling or meeting with
policymakers
- Serving as a resource to
policymakers - you can do this
by ensuring policymakers have
the correct and most up to date
information related to your
cause
- Writing a letter to your
policymaker
- Writing a letter to the edi
tor of a newspaper - most
newspapers have their instruc
tions for letters to the editor in
their paper and on their web
site
- Participating in a commu
nity forum or town meeting
- Developing coalitions of
persons who share and support
similar interests can be a great
advocacy tool. Everyone has
different strengths; for exam
ple, one person in your group
may be great at writing letters,
while another person may be
great at public speaking. This
diversity allows coalitions to
advocate in many different
ways at the same time.
It is important to know that
"policymaker" does not just
mean an elected official; a pol
icymaker is anyone who has a
role in developing policy for a
certain group of persons. This
means that you may advocate
to elected officials, but you
may also advocate to business
leaders, directors of health care
organizations (hospitals, clin
ics, etc.), even groups of people
like researchers, doctors, or the
community at large.
Remember, influencing
change on the community or
group level rarely happens
overnight; this means you may
need to advocate to many dif
ferent people/groups of people
via many different means over
a period of time. The first step
to becoming an effective actoo
cate is informing yourself
about your issue or cause of
interest. You can find specific
templates on how to write let
ters, make visits or call policy
makers on the APHA web site
a t
http://www.apha.org/advocacy
/.
- Contribution by: Sarah
Langdon
Do you need further infor
mation or have questions or
comments about this article?
Please call toll-free 1-877-530
1824. Or, for nwre information
about the Maya Angeloy
Center for Health Equity,
please visit our website:
http.l/www.wfubmc .edu/minori
ty health.
Working together,
on Tuesday,
November 4th,
President Obama
and the Democrats
in Congress
will bring the
change we need
to America.
Make sure your vote is counted by voting early through November 1
You can even register and vote all at the same time.
For early voting locations call 1-888-NC-EARLY (877-624-2426)
y ? ? O
orvisitVoteforChange.com
F?ld Km by ttw Dwiiocmtic Nalionul ComrnKW and by Ob?ma tor Amarica
^ObamaOS