Diana Ross once sang that we should treach out and touch somebody's hand, and make this world a better place, if you can.

It's a timeless sentiment, for the world always needs the improvement. This simple idea helps define our humanity- that the efforts of a few can benefit the many- might seem overwhelming in an ever smaller world, ever fraught with problems.

Sometimes, living in the rural enchantment that is Otsego County, itFs hard to fathom that our actions here in Upstate New York can make a difference to someone a half a mile or a half a world away, but that is exactly the premise of the CROP Walk scheduled Sunday, September 26, 2004.

CROP, Communities Reaching Out to People, is an ecumenical effort that for fifty-seven has years worked to provide people in over eighty countries and at home with the most basic of human needs: food and the long term means of getting it to ensure their survival. CROP provides not only food, but develops planting and irrigation systems so that new seeds will grow.

They assist in emergency and famine relief and they aid the planetFs forty million refugees and displaced persons. They take on the nearly unconquerable problems of our beleaguered world. Do your part. Put forth a little effort for a huge return. Your two, five or ten kilometer sponsored walk around Cooperstown makes a tangible difference, globally and locally, putting food in an otherwise empty stomach. A simple afternoon walk that does your heart good and makes the world a better place.

In American society, our dominant health problem is eating too much and moving too little. The latest numbers show that half a million of us will die prematurely this year because we have too much to eat and our lives are sufficiently cushy that we needn't be bothered to move even the minimal amount to keep our bodies in nominal working order. It makes it difficult to grasp the brutal reality that in parts of our planet and in our own backyard, fellow human beings grapple daily with getting enough food and safe water to keep body and soul together.

You can make a difference. The CROP Walk offers the chance to redress the balance of those two extremes. Get in touch with Dr. Herb Marx at 547- 5241, or any of the Cooperstown churches, to help so many abroad and at home.

The Walking Example Group always encourages people to exercise their bodies. For this cause, we encourage you to exercise your humanity as well.

Brenda Berstler is president and founder of WE-GO.