wfn.org | Lutherans Team up for "Souper Bowl of Caring"

[news@ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 10, 2001

LUTHERANS TEAM UP FOR "SOUPER BOWL OF CARING"
01-006-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- As two teams compete to become champion of
the National Football League on "Super Bowl Sunday," Jan. 28,
thousands of Lutherans will engage in a challenge of a different
kind.  Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
will participate in "Souper Bowl of Caring," a national effort to
fight hunger.
     On the day of the Super Bowl, congregations of the ELCA and
other faith groups will aim to raise $4 million for soup kitchens,
food banks and other charities across the country.
     "There's no better day than Super Bowl Sunday, in which we
enjoy food and drink, to spread the message in our churches that God
calls all of us to share our abundance with people in great need,"
said Stephen Padre, associate director for hunger and disaster appeal
communication, ELCA Department for Communication.
     "One child in five in the United States lives in poverty, and
about a billion people in the world are forced to live on just a
dollar a day," Padre said.
     Young members of the ELCA will take the lead in collecting
dollars in large soup pots as parishioners leave worship the morning
of the championship football game, said Padre.  Each congregation
will select and send contributions directly to a charity of their
choice.
     Organizers will report their results on game day by visiting
www.souperbowl.org -- the Souper Bowl of Caring's Web site, or call
1-800-358-SOUP.  The national totals will be posted on the Web site.
     "The Souper Bowl is a great way for young people to show that
when we work together we can make big strides in ending hunger,"
Padre said.
     To prepare for the Souper Bowl, the 11,000 congregations of the
ELCA received a packet containing resources and ideas for youth
groups and others to plan for the event.  The packet was produced by
the ELCA World Hunger Appeal and the Lutheran Youth Organization
(LYO), Padre said.  Housed in the ELCA's Division for Congregational
Ministries, LYO represents more than 500,000 high-school age people
in the 11,000 congregations of the ELCA in the United States and
Caribbean.
     The packet includes a poster that can be hung in a church's
narthex or other high-traffic areas, Padre said.  Attached to the
poster are bulletin inserts which invite members of the church to
give one dollar or more.
     With one dollar, the ELCA World Hunger Appeal can support
feeding for four people in Bangladesh or ship a sewing kit to a
refugee camp, Padre said.  In the United States, a dollar can
leverage $15 worth of surplus food for local food banks, he said.
     Youth can decide where the offerings they collect will go.  It
is suggested that they split their collection between a
hunger/poverty ministry like a food pantry in their area and the ELCA
World Hunger Appeal, which will use the funds nationally and
internationally, Padre said.
     To help kick off the 2001 Souper Bowl of Caring, some
congregations will organize a "service blitz" before Super Bowl
Sunday.   The service blitz is designed to encourage youth groups to
work at a charity in their area, both to benefit the charity and
increase awareness of the Souper Bowl.
     Souper Bowl of Caring began when the Rev. Brad Smith, Spring
Valley Presbyterian Church, Columbia, S.C., made reference to the
National Football League's "Super Bowl" Sunday as "Souper Bowl"
Sunday in a prayer.  The senior youth fellowship of the congregation
took the pun in earnest and a national effort to fight hunger was
born.
     The partnership has grown from 22 churches in 1990 to more than
11,000 congregations in Canada and in every state.  The effort
generated more than $3 million in 2000.  Lutheran congregations
raised $493,000 for local and national hunger organizations and the
ELCA World Hunger Appeal.

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EDITORS:
Contributions to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal can be sent to:

 ELCA WHA
 PO Box 71764
 Chicago, IL 60694-1764
 1-800-638-3522
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For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html