On Friday, April 4, at 9 am. the Northwest Suburban "Hike for the Hungry" will officially commence at Maine Township High School East in Park Ridge. The final check point is the Northwest Opportunity Center in Rolling Meadows although a hiker may drop out at any point he wishes.

The "Hike for the Hungry" is a nationwide program designed to help raise funds for various organizations and projects providing food and assistance to underdeveloped countries throughout the world.

The money raised by the Northwest Suburban hike will be divided evenly among three different projects. The first third will go to the Northwest Opportunity Center in Rolling Meadows which assists approximately 700 families in our area living on less than $3,100 a year.

The Center provides adult basic education classes, employment and housing referral, citizenship classes, pre‑school age education in connection with Headstart, legal assistance, and emergency food and clothing distribution.

The second third will support the Ecuador Agricultural SelfHelp Project. Since the farm land is very unproductive in mountainous Ecuador, more than half of the five million inhabitants are fighting for their lives. The solution to their problem is improved crop production.

The project will establish a center for training adults in efficient farming. Hopefully, contributions from the hike will pay for various equipment needed by the Center.

Finally, money from the hike will be sent to UNICEF which will provide food shipments to Biafra. Already six million people have died from hunger in Biafra and millions more will do the same if more help doesn't come in the future.

Those who will participate in the "Hike for the Hungry" should already have obtained a sponsor sheet and registration form from the Student Council office and returned it by today, March 28, including the name of at least one sponsor.

Sponsors were chosen by each individual hiker to whom he explained the purpose and then secured a pledge of a fixed amount of money per mile that he would walk. The registered hikers will be able to obtain additional sponsors before the hike this Friday.

To complete the activity, there will be a presentation of the money collected on Sunday, April 13. All hikers and sponsors are invited. The project goal of the "Hike for the Hungry" held here and elsewhere is $120,000 which will then be equally divided among the three projects.