wfn.org | Lutherans Help Make Winning Touchdown for 'Souper Bowl'

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

February 6, 2002

LUTHERANS HELP MAKE WINNING TOUCHDOWN FOR 'SOUPER BOWL'
02-023-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- As the New England Patriots of the National
Football League claimed victory on "Super Bowl Sunday" Feb. 3, thousands
of Lutherans also made the "winning touchdown" in a challenge of a
different kind.
     Members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
participated in "Souper Bowl of Caring," a national effort to fight
hunger.  Organizers reported their results on game day.  As of Feb. 6,
about 6,350 faith groups across the country raised $2.6 million.  The
total is posted on www.souperbowl.org -- the Souper Bowl of Caring's Web
site.
     Some congregations of the ELCA arranged for young people to
collect canned goods and dollars in large soup pots as parishioners left
worship the morning of the championship football game.  Some
congregations contributed their donations to the ELCA World Hunger
Appeal, local food pantries and homeless shelters.
     Eleven of 79 congregations of the ELCA Metropolitan Washington,
D.C., Synod participated in the Souper Bowl of Caring by collecting
money and food.  Of the 11, six congregations raised $1,202.95.
     Members of Bethany Lutheran Church, Forestville, Md., collected
dollars in chef hats after worship.  Members "collected an average of
$2.00 per worshiper, a very generous outpouring considering the
neighborhood's poverty," said Karen S. Krueger, communication
coordinator, ELCA Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Synod.
     Some congregations kicked off the 2002 Souper Bowl of Caring by
organizing a "service blitz" before Super Bowl Sunday.  The blitz was
designed to encourage youth groups to work at local food organizations,
increase awareness of hunger and call attention to the Souper Bowl of
Caring effort.
     Young members of Christ the King Lutheran Church, Great Falls,
Va., volunteered their time at the Capital Area Food Bank on Feb. 2.
"Fresh off this experience, they designated $200.00 raised at the Souper
Bowl of Caring effort to support the food bank," Krueger said.
     A member of Peace Lutheran Church, Annandale, Va., read about the
Souper Bowl effort in a "Dear Abby" column three years ago and brought
the program to her congregation, Krueger said.  "She is now turning the
successful annual event over to the youth group."
     Six congregations of the ELCA Nebraska Synod collected money to
support the ELCA World Hunger Appeal and local food organizations.
     The high school group at First Lutheran Church, Avoca, Neb.,
collected $227.57 to support a program for Christian prisoners in
Lincoln, Neb.  The group will attend a Bible study with participants of
the program and present the funds this month.
     Members of the social ministry board at First English Lutheran
Church, Kimball, Neb., and members of Trinity Lutheran Church, Omaha,
collected money for the ELCA World Hunger Appeal.  At Immanuel Lutheran
Church, Orum, Neb., and Emmaus Lutheran Church, Kennard, Neb., members
collected funds to support the ELCA World Hunger Appeal and the
Washington County Food Pantry.
      Youth members of Rejoice Lutheran Church, Gering, Neb., collected
$75.00 to purchase food for a local soup kitchen.
     "The Souper Bowl of Caring was a joint effort between our junior
and senior high school youth groups," said Tracy Steele, youth leader,
Calvary Lutheran Church, Scottsbluff, Neb.  Teenagers at Calvary
collected $559.83 to support the soup kitchen at the Lakota Lutheran
Center, Scottsbluff.  They led worship on Feb. 3 and "held a soup
luncheon" after worship.  After the service, "we held out soup kettles"
to collect money, Steele said.
     The seventh and eighth grade Sunday school class took charge and
raised $140.00 for the ELCA Domestic Disaster Response, said the Rev.
Kenneth W. Longfield, Evangelical Lutheran Church, Reedsville, Pa.  "The
youth chose this recipient from among several others because of its
ongoing work with the events of Sept. 11," Longfield said.
     Seven congregations of the ELCA Northwest Synod of Wisconsin
participated in the Souper Bowl of Caring.
     The high school group at Chetek Lutheran Church, Chetek, Wis.,
collected $261.00 for the Chetek Area Food Shelf.  "This is a great
event that shows the magnitude of what churches can do when they join
together," said the Rev. Samuel S. Kochel, Chetek.
     Members of Osseo Evangelical Lutheran Church, Osseo, Wis.,
contributed canned goods and $281.73 to support the Tri-County Food
Pantry.  The church's youth coordinator, Laura Eide, led the effort.
She said confirmation students of the church volunteer their time every
other month at the local food pantry.
     Young members of Joy Lutheran Church, Prescott, Wis., collected
$239.55 for the Prescott Food Shelf, and the youth group at Our
Saviour's Lutheran Church, Stanley, Wis., collected $92.00 for the ELCA
World Hunger Appeal.
     Members of Trinity Lutheran Church, Amery, Wis., collected $65.00
for the ELCA World Hunger Appeal.  Zion Lutheran Church, Stratford,
Wis., raised $96.00 for the Ronald McDonald House of Marshfield, Wis.
Members of First Lutheran Church, Prentice, Wis., raised $65.00, and
Zion Lutheran Church, Brantwood, Wis., collected $95.00 to support
community food pantries.
     Other ELCA congregations participating in the Souper Bowl of
Caring included:
+ St. Shephen's Lutheran Church, El Dorado Hills, Calif.  Members raised
$158.00 for Loaves and Fishes, a local food shelter.
+ Grace Lutheran Church, Villa Park, Ill.  The church's youth group
collected $136.00; part of the funds will support the ELCA World Hunger
Appeal.
+ Holy Spirit Lutheran Church, Reading, Pa.  Members collected $176.00
to support the Lutheran Pantry of the West Berks District.
     "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 one
dollar a day," said Stephen Padre, associate director for hunger and
disaster appeal communication, ELCA Department for Communication.
     With one dollar, the ELCA World Hunger Appeal can provide food for
one day for children with AIDS living in Africa, said Padre.  In the
United States a dollar can leverage $15 worth of surplus food for local
food banks, he said.
     To prepare for the Souper Bowl, each of the 10,816 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).
Housed in the ELCA's Division for Congregational Ministries, LYO
represents more than 500,000 high-school age people in the congregations
of the ELCA across the United States and Caribbean.
     The packet included a poster and bulletin inserts designed to
invite members of the church to give one dollar or more.
     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.  Smith now
serves full-time as executive director of Souper Bowl of Caring.
     The partnership has grown from 22 churches in 1990 to more than
12,500 congregations in Canada and in every U.S. state.  The effort
generated more than $3.6 million in 2001.  Lutheran congregations raised
about $500,000 for local and national hunger organizations and the ELCA
World Hunger Appeal.
- - -
Editors: Contributions to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal can be sent to:
ELCA WHA
P.O. Box 71764
Chicago, IL 60694-1764

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