Since 2011 the Christian Center of Park City has hosted its Hike for Hunger community celebration.
The event has shifted over the years from a fundraiser for programs that help those who experience food insecurity to an awareness raiser to show food insecurity touches all walks of life.
“We realized the real goal is to raise awareness about food insecurity,” said Steve Richardson, Christian Center of Park City executive director. “So we want to form partnerships with this event. We want our customers and people who really care about others having food security to interact with each other. We want to see kids playing together.”
That goal should be easy when the 2026 Hike for Hunger returns from noon-6 p.m. on Saturday to Utah Olympic Park, Richardson said.
“The biggest thing is we’re renting out the entire park to make it special for the community,” he said. “Everyone will be able to ride the alpine slide and zip lines and do the ropes courses and climbing activities and trail activities where you can ride the ski lift and hike down the mountain.”
The event will feature a DJ and an array of food and drink vendors, according to Richardson.
“There will be a lot of things like soft pretzels, mixed sodas and coffee,” he said. “We’ll also have some nice meals.”
Registration is now open, and prices range from $25 for individuals and $75 for families.
“We keep admission low because we want everyone in the community to attend,” Richardson said. “Luckily we have an underwriter, Dick Marriott, because the price of the tickets don’t pay for what we’re doing. And that’s wonderful.”
Christian Center clients also can attend for lower prices or for free, Richardson said.
“The goal is to not make money. It’s to get the community together,” he said.
All who register will get a 2026 Hike for Hunger T-shirt.
“Jake Carter of our marketing team loves designing the shirts every year,” Richardson said. “Since this is the Hike for Hunger, he put some healthy foods on the design.”
Healthy food is one of the ways that separates the Christian Center’s food pantries in Park City and Heber City from other food pantries.
“I talked with someone who has experiences with other food pantries around the country, and they said most food pantries aren’t open five days a week,” Richardson said. “They also said most food pantries don’t have fresh fruits and vegetables, cheeses and eggs.”
Many food pantries are filled with processed food and canned food, according to Richardson.
“We do have canned food, but we mostly try to get healthy foods to people who want to live a healthy life and be food secure,” he said.
Healthy-food donations are one of the things that make Park City special, Richardson said.
“People came here to live that healthy lifestyle — to get out and exercise and experience the mountains,” he said. “We’re not trying to make gourmet meals, but we do want to make the healthy basics available for everyone. We want to make people feel valued and empowered.”
The No. 1 cause of poverty is not just economic availability. It’s a sense of shame, Richardson said.
“If someone feels ashamed to get help or walk into a food pantry or ask for help with mental health, it will keep them in that poverty,” he said. “So, our goal is not to just provide services. It’s to eliminate shame. And that’s why the Hike for Hunger is in this beautiful spot.”
Hike for Hunger will also shed light on the Christian Center’s other programming, Richardson said.
“Yes, we call it Hike for Hunger, but it’s not just about food-security programs,” he said. “We want to make sure our customers are food secure, but we also want to make sure they feel a sense of hope. That’s why we have Operation Hope and Back-to-School Basics.”
Operation Hope is the Christian Center’s equivalent to Sub for Santa, where parents are able to participate in an empowering experience of selecting toys for their children in a Christmas-store setting.
Back-to-School Basics is the nonprofit’s program that provides school supplies for underserved students in Summit County, Wasatch County and the students who live on the Goshute Reservation.
“Of course, mental health is also so vital in what we do,” Richardson said. “So, we are inviting everyone to be a part of this.”
The Christian Center also invites other locally based nonprofits to set up kiosks and participate in Hike for Hunger.
“We want people to see that his community cares for those who are struggling and will work with them to be more successful and feel more hopeful and empowered to live the life they want to live,” Richardson said. “There are so many people today who are living with anxiety or in fear. It’s real. We can’t just argue it away, but we can try to make things better one step at a time.”
Richardson also emphasized Christian Center programs are available to everyone who needs them.
“We aren’t tied to a church or denomination or religious practice,” he said. “We don’t have a statement of faith, and people who use our services don’t have to be religious. We call ourselves the Christian Center because we feel Christian values are about love and that God loves people. That’s as far as it goes. We’re all in this together to serve everyone in our community.”
Christian Center of Park City’s 2026 Hike for Hunger
- When: noon-6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 12
- Where: Utah Olympic Park, 3419 Olympic Pkwy.
- Registration: $25 for individuals and $75 for families
- Web: ccofpc.org/hike-for-hunger