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

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

January 13, 2003

LUTHERANS TEAM UP FOR "SOUPER BOWL OF CARING"
03-004-MR

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Before gathering with family and friends on the
National Football League's (NFL) "Super Bowl Sunday" Jan. 26, members of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) will huddle and go on
the offense to attack hunger.
     On the day of the Super Bowl, congregations of the ELCA and other
faith groups will participate in the "Souper Bowl of Caring," a national
effort aimed at raising millions of dollars for soup kitchens, food
banks and other hunger-fighting organizations across the country.
     "Tonight and every night millions of children around the world
will go to bed hungry.	One child in five in the United States lives in
poverty," said Stephen Padre, associate director for hunger and disaster
appeal communication, ELCA Department for Communication.
     The goal for the 2003 Souper Bowl of Caring, now in its 14th year,
is to raise $4 million.  Last year, Lutheran congregations raised nearly
$500,000 for local and national hunger organizations, including the
annual ELCA World Hunger Appeal, 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.  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 by
calling 1-800-358-SOUP.  The national totals will be posted on the Web
site.  About 10,000 faith groups and congregations
collected $3.1 million in the 2002 Souper Bowl of Caring.
     To help kick off the 2003 Souper Bowl of Caring, some
congregations will organize a "service blitz" before Jan. 26.  The
service blitz is designed to encourage youth groups to work at a hunger
ministry in their area, both to benefit the ministry and increase
awareness of the Souper Bowl.
     Souper Bowl of Caring began when the Rev. Brad Smith, serving as
youth pastor for Spring Valley Presbyterian Church, Columbia, S.C., made
reference to the NFL'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.
     To prepare for the 2003 Souper Bowl, the 10,766 congregations of
the ELCA received packets 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 members of
the ELCA in the United States and Caribbean.
     "LYO is thinking big," said Padre.  Young people have challenged
themselves to raise more than $1 million in quarters to fight hunger and
poverty in God's world.  This is an awesome goal, but it is "doable" if
all ELCA youth, from Alaska to the U.S. Virgin Islands, work together,
he said.
     About 40,000 high-school age Lutherans are expected to attend the
ELCA Youth Gathering, July 16-20 and July 23-27, in Atlanta.  Their goal
is to collect three rolls of quarters from each person and dump them in
a giant container.  They will add up their quarters and send a check to
the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, said Padre.
     Young people "not attending the gathering are being encouraged to
participate in the quarter collection and send a check to the ELCA World
Hunger Appeal," he said.
     "Quarters make a difference," Padre said.	"Four quarters feed an
orphaned teen for a day.  Forty quarters feed a baby living in a refugee
camp for a month.  Four hundred quarters plant fruit trees in a school
garden.  One thousand quarters provide a pair of barnyard goats; and
20,000 quarters support an irrigation project that feeds a whole village
for a month."
     Funds collected from the challenge will support "the ELCA World
Hunger Appeal and 'Stand With Africa: A Campaign of Hope,' a Lutheran
campaign that focuses on banishing hunger and building peace in sub-
Saharan Africa.  Stand With Africa relates to the ELCA Youth Gathering
theme, 'Ubuntu!'  The LYO and ELCA World Hunger Appeal share common
emphases on Africa," Padre added.
-- -- --
Editors: Contributions to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal can be sent to:

ELCA WHA
P.O. Box 71764
Chicago, IL 60694-1764
1-800-638-3522
http://www.elca.org/hunger/

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html