Come Sunday, hundreds of people from around Washtenaw County will walk so others may eat.

The 35th annual Ann Arbor/Washtenaw County CROP (Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty) Hunger Walk will raise money to fight hunger locally and around the globe.

It’s an especially challenging time, said Grace Helms Kotre, co-director of the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, local organizers of the walk. Demand is up, with twice as many applications for funding compared to last year, she said. And fundraising has been down 20 percent over the previous year.

But Kotre remains optimistic. While walkers won’t register until the day of the event, 55 recruiters have signed on to encourage members of their church congregations or organizations to participate, Kotre said.

“We’ve run out of envelopes for collecting pledges, and we had 1,000 envelopes. I’m feeling really optimistic.” The goal is to raise $60,000. Between 500 and 600 people have participated in past years, ranging in age from infants to some in their 90s.

CROP Walks are held around the country at varying times of the year and are organized by Church World Services, a U.S.-based non-profit with an international reach. Participants solicit pledges (which can be done on-line now) from family and friends to raise funds.

A quarter of the funds raised Sunday will remain within Washtenaw County, and will be divided among eight agencies. The rest will be given to international relief agencies that work in some of the poorest corners of the world, including Pakistan, Haiti and Malawi. Some $57,000 was raised last October, compared to $70,000 the previous year, which set a CROP Walk record.

CROP Walk is about more than raising funds, Kotre said. It’s also about raising awareness. A mass of 500 or 600 people walking together creates public awareness. And everyone is invited to join in, even those who do not wish to fund raise.

Registration is necessary to participate and will be held at 1 p.m. on the day of the walk. CROP Walk begins at 2 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church, 1501 W. Liberty St. While all walkers make the first mile together, it splits off into a 3 km walk and a 10 km route. A meal will be served after the walk. For more information, go to www.icpj.net/program-areas/hunger/crop/.