PROVIDENCE — More than 800 people determined to eliminate global hunger and homelessness will walk to the State House March 21 in the 30th Annual Good Friday Walk for Hunger and Homelessness.
The participants will march from nine sites in the Greater Providence area, while another group will walk from Sts. John and Paul Church, Coventry, and pray the Stations of the Cross at various churches during a 10-mile walk.
Walkers will step off at 9 a.m. on Good Friday from Calvary Baptist Church, Crossroads RI, St. Anthony, St. Michael and St. Theresa churches, Sophia Academy and St. Martin Episcopal Church, all in Providence; Haven United Methodist Church, East Providence; and People’s Baptist Church, Cranston. Participants will gather at the State House for a blessing and prayer offered by Father Clyde Walsh.
Proceeds from the walk will benefit more than two dozen local organizations and programs in Rhode Island, as well as others in West Virginia, Central America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa. Out-of state and foreign programs that receive funds from the Good Friday Walk all have local connections.
“There is a crisis in need,” said Lorraine Burns, parish secretary at St. Theresa of Avila Church, Providence, and coordinator of the parish food pantry. Burns said there is a growing need for food and utility assistance in the community, especially among the working poor who, despite having more than one job, often must decide whether to pay utility bills or put food on the table.
“We are supplying basic human needs,” emphasized St. Joseph Sister Ann Keefe, pastoral assistant at St. Michael Church, Providence and a member of the board of directors of the Good Friday Walk.
“People don’t need a handout; they need a hand,” she continued. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen it this difficult. Prices are out of control.”
Sister Keefe said 400 families visit St. Michael’s food pantry once a month.
Mercy Sister Mary Reilly, founder of Sophia Academy, Providence and one of the original organizers of the Good Friday Walk, noted a group of religious sisters from different communities working in urban ministries coordinated the first march 30 years ago.
Sister Reilly recalled reading an article in a Catholic publication about a successful Good Friday walk held in Quincy, Massachusetts and convinced her colleagues to organize a similar event.
“The demands were growing more and more on the St. Vincent de Paul Society,” she said. The first Good Friday Walk took participants on a 10-mile loop through Providence. In 1986, churches representing other faiths were asked to support the fundraising initiative.
“We were working with other groups in the community, so we invited them to participate and make it ecumenical,” said Sister Keefe.
“The focus is that poverty is a world issue, not just a local one,” said Sister Reilly, explaining why the organization funds programs outside as well as within the state.
According to board President Betsy Garland, the organization provides grants to charities based on the revenue raised from the walk. Grants range from $300 to $2,500. Last year, recipients included Amos House, the Genesis Center and Epiphany Soup Kitchen, all in Providence; St. Paul’s United Methodist Church Soup Kitchen, Newport; Rhode Island Family Shelter, Newport; Big Laurel Learning Center, West Virginia; Ghana Water Well Project, Ghana and the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur Primary School, Congo.
“We put more money where the need is greater,” she stated. “Sometimes all that is needed is a little boost to help them get by.”
Garland noted that a small grant allows soup kitchens to purchase perishable items such as milk that cannot be obtained from food banks.
Walkers who collect $30 or more in pledges will receive a hat; others will receive a commemorative bracelet. Garland added that this year, the organization will receive a Feinstein Matching Grant for pledges received up to April 30.
For more information about the walk or to register, call Sister Keefe at 781-7210. Donations can be made online at www.GoodFridayWalkforHungerRI.org.
Project Hope/Proyecto Esperanza will sponsor its 24th Annual Good Friday Walk to benefit the Dire Emergency Fund and the Hospitality House Soup Kitchen at St. John the Baptist Church, Pawtucket.
The walk will begin at 9 a.m. at St. John the Baptist Church, 69 Quincy Ave., and follow a route that will take participants through Pawtucket and Central Falls. Walkers will be served a light Lenten lunch at the church hall following the walk.
“With our state’s economic situation as difficult as it is and seeing first-hand the day-to-day financial straits our clients face, I am hoping for a great deal of participation from the members of the community,” said James R. Jahnz, Coordinator of Project Hope/Proyecto Esperanza.
For more information, to make a donation or to obtain pledge sheets, call 728-0515.
