Press Release:

August 6, 2007

WALTHER STUDENTS WALK TO STOP HUNGER

On Sunday, September 30, 2007, dozens of Walther Lutheran High School students will participate in the Proviso Area CROP Hunger Walk. The young people will travel by bus from their school to the Westchester Community Church registration site. There the students will join with others from the community, including a large contingent from area churches, on a six mile hike through residential Westchester. The Walther walkers plan to obtain at least $3000 in pledges. The entire student body at Walther will band together to top the $2900 raised last year to fight hunger.

Mark Korntheuer, the head of Walther's Social Science department, marks this as the seventeenth year that Walther students have participated in the CROP walk. “One of the units in our World Geography course involves the study of population growth and its impact on the environment. We combined this with a study of world hunger and its solutions. We looked for an active way in which students could pool their resources to fight hunger. The CROP walk seemed the ideal project.”

The CROP Walk in Westchester is one of several in the area that is sponsored by Church World Service. Of the funds raised, 25% goes to fill 9 local food pantries, and 75% is contributed to hunger relief out of state and overseas. The progam operates with the aim of assisting and enabling the world's hungry in feeding themselves.

“The students have been super in this effort,” observed Korntheuer. “Over the years we have walked in the cold and even during all-day October rainstorms. Their enthusiasm to help others has never flagged. Every year our new students hear from their classmates how satisfying this event is, and we attract more walkers willing to get involved.”

The CROP Walk is one of several ways in which Walther students actively work to make a difference in the community at large. One week later, they will assist with the Chicago Marathon. This spring, many Walther students and staff will participate in the 3rd Annual Phil's Friends Walk-a-Thon to help provide care packages to children with cancer, and the entire school will participate in a Christian Service Day, helping throughout the community on May 15, 2008. Each grade level at Walther also participates in an intensive program of service within the school community, church congregation, vocational arena and extended community.

Walther Lutheran High School is located at 9th and Chicago in Melrose Park. Students from over fifty Chicagoland zip codes come to Walther for its low teacher-student ratio and high level of college acceptance. For more information about Walther Lutheran High School or the Open House for prospective students and parents, call 708.344.0404 or visit Walther.com.

Press Release contact: Lori Solyom, Public Information Coordinator