wfn.org | `Souper' Fund-Raiser Hopes to Score Big with Jan. 30 Kick-Off

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

6-January-2000 
00007 
 
    `Souper' Fund-Raiser Hopes to Score Big with Jan. 30 Kick-Off 
 
    Organizers set goal of $3.5 million for 2000 
 
    by Evan Silverstein 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - You don't have to be a diehard football fan to help the 
hungry people of your community in this month's Souper Bowl of Caring. 
 
    The national event raises money and canned goods for food banks, 
shelters and soup kitchens on the day of the National Football League's 
homonymic championship game - the Super Bowl - on Sunday, Jan. 30. 
Organizers hope this year's 11th annual Souper Bowl will raise $3.5 million 
for charities in local communities across the country. 
 
    "The Souper Bowl of Caring offers people in churches across the country 
a simple but significant way to join together in caring and unity," said 
the Rev. Brad Smith, associate pastor of Spring Valley Presbyterian Church 
in Columbia, S.C., which started the fund-raiser. 
 
    The Souper Bowl's ecumenical partnership has grown from 22 churches in 
1990 to 11,300 last year, when worshipers in all 50 states gave more than 
$2.5 million. A total of 2,314 Presbyterian churches - nearly one-fourth of 
all PC(USA) congregations - took part, contributing $529,183. 
 
    Last year's total was more than double that of 1997, Smith noted. 
 
    In the Souper Bowl program, inspired by a pastoral prayer Smith offered 
on Super Bowl Sunday in 1990, young people ask parishioners to drop one 
dollar apiece into large soup cauldrons as they leave worship on the 
morning of the Super Bowl. 
 
    Participating churches phone in their totals to Souper Bowl officials 
and send the money directly to the charities of their choice. The 
organizers don't handle the money or tell people where to send it. They do 
ask for a phone report so that the national total can be determined. 
 
    "We believe this idea is a gift from God," Smith said. "We encourage 
people everywhere to join the team and help the needy." 
 
    Organizers have distributed posters and fliers to youth groups and 
congregations nationwide. "Dear Abby" is scheduled to publish a Souper Bowl 
column on Friday, Jan. 7, and the NFL is planning a news conference in 
Atlanta during the week prior to the Super Bowl. There also is a home page 
for surfers on the World Wide Web (www.souperbowl.org). 
 
      Presbyterian participation spanned the country last year, from 
Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Waterloo, Iowa, to First Presbyterian in 
Canadian, Texas, and University Community Presbyterian in Fairbanks, 
Alaska. 
 
     According to Smith, Presbyterians in Pennsylvania led the way, with 
252 churches participating. North Carolina, South Carolina, New York and 
Florida all had at least 128 congregations participating. 
 
    To participate, Smith said, one need only: 
 
      Get permission from the session; 
 
      Publicize the program; 
 
      Have youth-group members invite parishioners to put $1 apiece in a 
soup pot or bowl after worship on Jan. 30; 
 
      Call 1-800-358-SOUP (7687) between noon and 9 p.m. ET on Super Bowl 
Sunday to report your congregation's total; and 
 
      Deliver or mail the funds to the soup kitchen, food bank or other 
charity of your choice. 
 
    Youth groups also are encouraged to spend a day serving at the 
recipient ministry. 
 
    Smith said the Souper Bowl is a significant effort to transform Super 
Bowl Sunday into an occasion of "loving God ... and loving our neighbors." 
 
    "With God's help, ordinary people can do extraordinary good," he said. 

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