MVCAA plans 2nd annual poverty walk in September

The Circles of Support planning team met Wednesday, July 18, at Missouri Valley Community Action Agency offices in Marshall to schedule the 2007 Poverty Walk.

This year the event is titled, "Ending Poverty -- One Step at a Time." The Poverty Walk is an annual event that started in 2006 to bring awareness of the underprivileged in area communities by walking along the highway from one town to another and holding rallies in each of the towns visited.

Melanie Corporon, event coordinator, chaired the meeting and shared an experience from the first Poverty Walk.

She said last year during the stop in Richmond, the mayor of Richmond told her, "'I never thought about poverty in my community' and I was shocked by this," she said.

The event made Corporon feel all the stronger about what the Poverty Walk was, and is, accomplishing.

This year's flyer states "poverty is contrary to a core belief of our country; that people are entitled to basic human dignity." It says poverty is a barrier for that dignity.

Also in the flyer was a quote from Larry Billingsley of the Pettis County branch of Circles. He says, "I walked because I care about people and we have some major problems ... that need to be addressed and poverty is a big one."

Billingsley, trekked 53 miles over the six-day, 180-mile relay through Chariton, Carroll, Johnson, Lafayette, Pettis, Ray and Saline counties.

Participants in the Poverty Walk will begin this year in Marshall on Monday, Sept. 17, and walk along U.S. 65 to Sedalia.

On Sept. 18, the group will proceed to Knob Noster and then to Warrensburg. Two groups will walk Sept. 19, one group from Warrensburg and another from Higginsville Junction; they will walk to Higginsville, Lexington and then to Richmond.

The walkers will leave Richmond on Sept. 20, and arrive in Carrollton that night. On Friday, Sept. 21, the walkers will leave Carrollton and make their final stop in Keytesville.

Everyone is welcome to join the walk at any point. Those who participate will be given a raffle ticket for each mile logged, to be put into the drawings for prizes along the way.

There will be rallies most mornings and every evening of the walk, with participants met in each town by Head Start children. Organizations will set up booths with games and prizes, and speakers will give presentations.

Head Start is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that focuses on assisting children from low-income families.

Head Start was created in 1965 as part of President Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty."

Head Start is the longest-running program for stopping the cycle of poverty in the United States.

As of late 2005, more than 22 million pre-school children have participated in Head Start.

The committee will meet once more before the walk, on Monday, Aug. 20, at the central office in Marshall, where all plans will then be finalized.