The Winchester conference of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society is sponsoring the ninth annual Friends of the Poor walk from 9-11 a.m. Sept. 24 at College Park.

According to Walk co-chairman Rich Gomez, the walk is a nationwide event which conferences in the organization take part in. The funds raised locally for the walk are given to the area conference to ensure the money remains in the community.

“The Winchester conference, here at St. Joseph Parish, uses the funds raised to stock their food pantry which serves 60-90 families each month,” Gomez said.

He said when the walk first happened in 2008 the conference raised about $4,000. Last year, more than 35 walkers helped raise about $16,600.

Gomez said he hopes to meet or surpass last year’s total by getting word out earlier and contacting more than 180 potential corporate sponsors in the Winchester area.

In the event of rainy weather, walkers will move to the indoor track in the College Park Gym.

Anyone wishing to register for the walk or donate to it can do so at www.fopwalk.org. Participants will receive a free T-shirt.

According to the event’s website, last year 28,000 walkers raised more than $2.9 million in 240 different events in the United States.

Saint Vincent de Paul is a worldwide charitable organization with more than 800,000 members in 44,600 conferences. The organization is active in 150 countries on five continents.

Contact Seth Littrell at seth.littrell@winchestersun.com.