wfn.org | Volunteers Await Kickoff of 10th Annual "Souper Bowl"

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14-January-1999 
99019 
 
    Thousands of Volunteers Await Kickoff 
    of 10th Annual "Souper Bowl" for the Needy 
 
    by Evan Silverstein 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - More than 2,000 Presbyterian churches will join 
congregations from dozens of other faiths on Super Bowl Sunday to stop 
hunger for no gain. 
 
    The annual "Souper Bowl" for the needy turns the most sacred of Sundays 
for millions of football fans into a "celebration of the (Holy) Spirit at 
work in bringing about healing and health," said Rev. Brad Smith, an 
associate pastor at Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in Columbia, S.C., 
and the fund-raiser's founder. 
 
    "We feel like the program is a gift from God," Smith said, "and we're 
grateful to anybody who joins us in loving God and loving your neighbor." 
 
    On game day, Jan. 31, thousands of young people will stand at church 
doors with soup kettles, asking passers-by to drop in $1 apiece. Some 
congregations also will collect canned goods. Representatives of the 
participating churches will visit an Internet web site or call a toll-free 
number to be included in a nationwide tally. 
 
    Smith and his congregation's youth group kicked off the first Souper 
Bowl in 1990, at their church and 21 others in Columbia, collecting a total 
of $5,700. 
 
    That was only the beginning. The Columbia churches did it again the 
next year, and the next. Each time, it involved more churches and raised 
more money. 
 
    The participating churches send donations directly to the charities of 
their choice. Past recipients have included soup kitchens and food banks, 
Habitat for Humanity affiliates, and international missions. 
 
    The program went national in 1993. 
 
    Last year's ninth Souper Bowl involved a total of 8,600 congregations 
from all 50 states and Canada, and raised $1.7 million. This year's event 
is expected to involve at least 12,000 congregations; organizers hope to 
net at least $2.3 million. 
 
    "Out of the mustard seed of this idea comes an image of the body of 
Christ in action," Smith said. "This project in some ways is merely God's 
grace in action. And that it has found such fertile ground with 
Presbyterians and about 40 other denominations is exciting and wonderful." 
 
    It is clear that the project addresses a desperate need. Eight million 
Americans under age 18 live in poverty, according to Smith and a Souper 
Bowl brochure, and approximately 34,000 children around the world die each 
day because of malnutrition and preventable diseases. 
 
    "It's almost sort of numbing," Smith said. "And with all the excesses 
associated with this football game, can't we reach out to these people at 
the same time?" 
 
    The Souper Bowl doesn't just reach the poor. The event's Advocates 
Committee includes the likes of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Habitat 
founder Millard Fuller, University of Chicago theologian Martin Marty, and 
Atlanta Falcons football coach Dan Reeves, a Presbyterian who has his team 
in Sunday's NFC conference championship game. 
 
    While a lot of high-powered older folks have climbed aboard the 
bandwagon, most of the work still is done by high school students, who man 
the soup kettles and the Souper Bowl phone bank. Smith said he hopes the 
program will show the teenagers "that God can enable them to make a 
positive difference in the lives of others." 
 
    The Campbell's Soup Company is helping to spread the word through a 
substantial advertising campaign that includes 17 newspaper coupon inserts 
that will go to 50 million homes. Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis 
is the company's Souper Bowl spokesman. National radio ads and grocery 
store displays also are part of the effort. 
 
    The Odyssey Channel, a cable-TV network that features religious 
programming, has sent postcards promoting the Souper Bowl to more than 
60,000 U.S. congregations. 
 
    No advance registration is required of churches and other organizations 
conducting Souper Bowl drives. For more information or to report results, 
call 1-800-358-SOUP or visit www.souperbowl.com on the Internet. Until Jan. 
31, the  phone number will ring at Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in 
Columbia, but on game day it will connect to a 60-line phone bank provided 
by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina. 

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