wfn.org | "Souper Bowl" Organizers Report More Than $1.4 Million

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

4-February-1997 
97057 
 
              "Souper Bowl" Organizers  Report More  
           Than $1.4 Million From This Year's Campaign 
 
                         by Julian Shipp 
 
COLUMBIA, S.C.--Now that the Super Bowl  hoopla is over, excitement of a 
different flavor is cooking up as "Souper Bowl" officials here report more 
than $1.4 million has been collected to date from this year's anti-hunger 
and anti-poverty campaign. 
 
     Volunteers at Souper Bowl headquarters say more than 5,000 churches in 
all 50 states, representing more than 40 denominations, have donated 
directly to charities that help feed the poor and sustain the marginalized. 
Based on last year's trend, 1997 Souper Bowl totals should top $1.6 million 
once all participants have reported. 
 
     "We're still getting lots of calls and trying to get everything 
entered into our computer data base so we can get an accurate feel for what 
we're looking at," said the Rev. Brad Smith, associate pastor of Spring 
Valley Presbyterian Church in Columbia, S.C. "We even had folks from Hawaii 
participate in our program for the first time." 
 
     The Souper Bowl program was inspired by a pastoral prayer Smith 
offered on Super Bowl Sunday in 1988. Since then, a growing number of young 
people in churches across the country invite parishioners to drop one 
dollar into large soup cauldrons as they leave worship on the morning of 
the National Football League's (NFL) championship game. Participating 
churches phone in their total and then send funds directly to the charity 
of their choice.  
 
     The first Souper Bowl drive in 1990 became a project of the youth of 
Spring Valley Presbyterian Church, who enlisted 22 churches in the 
Columbia, S.C., area to participate. The program's ecumenical partnership 
has grown from 22 churches in 1990 to 4,600 in 1996. Worshipers from 49 
states gave more than $1.3 million in 1996. More than 1,200 PC(USA) 
churches from 46 different states participated in last year's Souper Bowl. 
 
     This year, Smith said, the Souper Bowl got a boost from several teams 
in the NFL who recorded public service announcements to air in their 
communities. These televised announcements encouraged people to participate 
in the effort to feed the hungry. 
 
     "With 100 million people watching the game, wouldn't it be wonderful 
if just one quarter of those gave $1 for the poor," Smith told the 
Presbyterian News Service. "We encourage congregations to begin plans to 
participate in Souper Bowl 1988." 
 
     For more information on the Souper Bowl project, or if you have 
participated but have not yet reported your totals, phone 1-800-358-SOUP or 
(803) 788-3589. Internet surfers can also visit the Souper Bowl home page 
at www.mindspring.com/~souperbowl. 

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For more information contact Presbyterian News Service
  phone 502-569-5504             fax 502-569-8073  
  E-mail PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org   Web page: http://www.pcusa.org 

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