Better Together4/16/2024 marking Memorial Blvd's 50th Hike Against Hunger In February, Pastor Linda Tobias, of Memorial Boulevard Christian Church in St Louis MO, wrote a letter: We believe we are “Better Together.” This catchy slogan emphasizes the power of collaboration and unity. We believe that coming together as a community of believers strengthens our collective efforts and provides an opportunity of working together, step by step, taking a stand against poverty, hunger, and injustice in the world. With that, Pastor Tobias invited sibling congregations from St Louis and surrounding areas to join with MBCC for the 2024 Hike Against Hunger, the church’s 50th outing to raise awareness and support for the ministry of Week of Compassion. Fifty years ago, Elvera (Armstrong) Parks approached Memorial Boulevard’s pastor, Rhodes Thompson, to see if the church would sponsor her on a walk she was taking part in. The idea developed that MBCC would create its own event to raise an offering for Week of Compassion, and the MBCC Hike Against Hunger was born.  The early Hikes were twenty miles!, and wound through nearby neighborhoods, headquartered each year - for starts, snack breaks, finish lines, and picnic lunches - at the homes of various church members. Host homes were added and varied along different neighborhoods and routes over the years, and the Hike adjusted to a 20K (12.5mi). Recently, the hikes have been held in St. Louis’s beautiful Tower Grove Park. While the Hikes have always included great fellowship, the focus started, and remains, on serving vulnerable communities. In the first years, Hikes raised an average of $1600 a year, making steady impact in many communities. Soon, a Memorial Boulevard leader, in lifting up the ministry of Week of Compassion, challenged the church to do more. What if, Ed Moreland suggested, the church set a specific goal: feeding 5000 people for one week? The simple meal costs they were working with put their goal at $2300 – which they nearly doubled when they raised $4000. The next year, then-Pastor Margie Pride traveled with Week of Compassion to El Salvador, where partners were working with a community to rebuild a water system destroyed by the war. MBCC set their most ambitious goal for that year’s Hike – $6000 to support the water project in Guarjila. They met, and exceeded, this goal too. From that point on, Memorial Boulevard has collaborated with Week Of Compassion for specific projects each year. Longtime Hike coordinator Chuck Levy says it’s the specifics of the partnership that give the Hike, and the team at MBCC, its staying power: It’s in the continued commitment of MBCC to serve both the local community and the greater community. Having the support of Week of Compassion and several sister churches has been HUGE. The absolute biggest key to our success has been having specific projects to work toward. When you are able to do that, to provide an image of a real person you are reaching out to, specific stories of needs and benefits, ways to engage, it is like helping someone you know and love.  Remarkably, the Hike Against Hunger has never been canceled by weather (hikers go in rain, cold, and heat), nor even by COVID; during two pandemic years, individuals walked on their own in and around their homes, and funds were still raised to support significant partnerships and projects. Chuck Levy notes that while the Hike has been under his volunteer coordination since stepping in when Woody and Mildred Whitlow, the first organizers, moved away, “So many other people have helped in so many ways,” including volunteers who care for everything from snack prep to mileage tracking to funds raised, and 16 local congregations that have joined in over the years. In the 49 years of the Hike, 904 hikers (many walking multiple years, a total of 2728 hiking) have covered 31,712 miles, and fifteen hikers have walked on 25 or more hikes! MBCC has supported projects in more than 30 countries – everything from clinics to farming support, water systems to food security, from youth education to refugee resettlement, and nutrition support to business start-ups and income regeneration. This year, the Hike goal is $15,000 to provide dignity/hygiene kits and health education for adolescent girls in Afghanistan. All told, in 49 outings, the Hike Against Hunger has raised more than $550,000, impacting over one million people directly, and countless more in the ripple effect of transformative hope. All because one person was going to walk, and asked her church for their support. It has been said that small things done with great love will change the world. The faithful at Memorial Boulevard Christian Church will make their 50th Hike Against Hunger on April 27, 2024, every step lifting up the world’s most vulnerable people, carrying the gratitude of the whole church, and proving that we are, indeed, better together. If you are in the St Louis area and would like to join the 50th Hike Against Hunger on Saturday April 27, or support the Hike in any way, contact Chuck Levy, Hike coordinator. Comments are closed.
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