Wednesday, January 29, 2014

It’s Souper Bowl Sunday Again!

Help Men’s Breakfast Fellowship Tackle Hunger

Men’s Fellowship is again this year supporting “The Souper Bowl of Caring.” Funds raised are all spent locally. We have supported Habitat for Humanity, Agua Fria and other food banks, and even reached out to Luke Air Force families in need. The first Sunday in February you will see Souper Bowls as you enter or leave the Sanctuary to receive your generous cash donations. The men thank you, and the families you will help thank you!

Did you know the Souper Bowl of Caring was started by Presbyterians? Here’s the story of its history from the souperbowl.org website:

A simple prayer: "Lord, even as we enjoy the Super Bowl football game, help us be mindful of those who are without a bowl of soup to eat" is inspiring a youth-led movement to help hungry and hurting people around the world.

This prayer, delivered by Brad Smith, then a seminary intern serving at Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC, gave birth to an idea. Why not use Super Bowl weekend, a time when people come together for football and fun, to also unify the nation for a higher good: collecting dollars and canned food for the needy? Youth could collect donations at their schools and churches in soup pots, and then send every dollar DIRECTLY to a local charity of THEIR choice.

The senior high youth of Spring Valley Presbyterian liked the idea so much they decided to invite other area churches to join the team. Twenty-two Columbia churches participated that first year, reporting their results so a total could be determined, and then sending all $5,700 they had raised to area non-profits.

That was 1990. Since then, ordinary young people have generated an extraordinary more than $90 million for soup kitchens, food banks and other charities in communities across the country. In addition, hundreds of thousands of youth have experienced for themselves the joy and satisfaction of giving and serving, inspiring people of all ages to follow their generous example.

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