29th Annual Hunger Walk

Location: Soldier Field

Date: Saturday, June 21, 2014; 8:30-10:30 am

I had met Carrie at ‘Adler After Dark’, where she is a seasoned volunteer.  She works for ‘GCFD’ and as such is involved in the annual ‘Hunger Walk’, particularly recruiting and managing volunteers.  I had offered to volunteer for the event but then during my project at ‘Coppin’, their volunteer coordinator Alyssa said that they had a team and I was welcome to join them.  I apologized to Carrie, but she said that as long as people were involved, it was a win for ‘GCFD’.  So after my debut at this event last year, I signed up for the sequel at this year’s ‘Hunger Games Walk’. Maybe I could "catch fire" this time.  Get it... Nevermind.

The Sequel

The ‘Coppin’ team was taking a bus from the center and initially I was going to join them.  But that would have taken away an hour of sleep, so I told Alyssa that I would see them directly at ‘Soldier Field’, though my concern was that like last year I may not be able to locate my team and so have to walk by myself.  I arrived to see the usual walk day festivities in progress including a man walking on stilts.  I went over to registration to check-in and collected my shirt and other things like cereal bars etc.  We were supposed to meet at the ‘Advocacy’ tent and so went there to wait. The volunteer over there told me that while the team wasn’t there yet, their main representative “Pastor Wilson” was already there.  Well, I had not heard about Wilson being appointed a ‘Pastor’ but with him nothing is impossible!  I saw Carrie and she told me that Natalie from ‘Adler’ was here as well and volunteering at the registration tent.  Since I had some time to kill, I went over to say hello to her and by now the crowd had really picked up.

I stopped by to see the entertainment on the stage and the came back to the meeting spot to find out that Pastor Wilson was there and no, it was not my buddy but a woman.  Also present was another team member Eddy and I chatted with him regarding our respective involvement with ‘Coppin’.  The organizers were taking pictures at a booth nearby and then asking us to upload to social media.  I asked Eddy if he was game and we went over to take a couple of pictures while holding some ‘GCFD’ signs.  In the meanwhile the non-Pastor Wilson texted me to say that he was with the ‘Coppin’ team and they were on their way.  The walk had already commenced and while our team was growing who, like me, had arrived directly at the site, there was no sign of Alyssa and the rest.  But I said to the others that it wasn’t as if this was a race and we would start only when the entire team was here.

Our team and the banner

Finally our team arrived, including Wilson, Alyssa, her fiancé Eric and some other folks.  They had a ‘Coppin Center’ banner and we all took another picture with it.  I looked around and spotted other familiar organizations like ‘Esperanza’, ‘La Casa Norte’ etc.  Wilson said that some of the residents from ‘Pat Crowley’ would be there and he would be walking with them while pushing their wheelchairs.  I said that I could do the same but he said that they had enough people and I should proceed with the original plan.  Plus, Pastor Wilson asked if I could help Eddy hold the banner as we walked and I said that it would be my privilege. 

We started walking with the team behind the banner that Eddy and I held, and following us was a band.  It was like having your own personal background music!  We crossed the start line with people cheering and proceeded down the route, going south towards ‘McCormick Plaza’.  As we entered the tunnel, the sound from the band intensified and Pastor Wilson said that Eddy and I should turn the banner around so that other people following us could identify who we were.  Eddy had to leave for his job and so Eric took over as my partner and we had a great time chatting about a variety of topics including how the ‘GCFD’ was subsidizing the costs of our shirts.  Well, they had enough logos on it to make a racecar driver proud and I was sure that the sponsors such as ‘McDonalds’ were handling the expenses.  Speaking of fast food companies, we talked about how so called “junk food” is now cheaper than fresh produce, thus contributing to the increasing problem of juvenile obesity.  But by subsidizing food they are at least helping the economically less fortunate and while it’s not ideal, I can live with that.  We also discussed topics such domestic vs international innovation and Pharmaceutical companies and patent laws.  Having worked in a start-up company I am a huge proponent of intellectual property protection and can discuss this for hours.  It was just a typical topic during a walk for charity!

It had been a terrific year

By this time we had turned around and were on our way back along the lakefront.  While there were still cheerleaders on the side, it was disappointing to see that there was litter gathering on the side of the road, including water bottles that had been handed to us en-route.  We were almost back and I had enjoyed chatting with Eric and Alyssa.  At the finish line I said goodbye to Pastor Wilson and other members of our team.  She thanked me for carrying the banner, though the pleasure had been all mine.  It had been cloudy and dark outside my window when I had woken up, but it turned out to be a pleasant day. As the quote below from Helen Keller emphasizes, it definitely is better when you are part of a team.  I hope to be back next year for the continuing saga of ‘Hunger…’, you know what. Maybe I can even take flight like a bird.  Get it...Nevermind.

“I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.” - Helen Keller