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This story available online:

www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2009/09052<http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2009/09052

>XLIII = XX

Souper Bowl of Caring celebrates 20 years of service

>by Jerry L. Van Marter
>Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE ― Twenty years ago, Brad Smith, a seminary
intern at Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in Columbia,
SC, asked worshipers to bring donations of canned goods and
money on Super Bowl Sunday to help feed the local hungry.

Inspired by the Spring Valley youth group's modest start
that day, the Souper Bowl of Caring [www.souperbowl.org]
has raised more than $50 million, transforming professional
football's biggest weekend into a the nation's largest
youth-led weekend of giving and serving.

In 1991 the effort went statewide and by 1993 was national.
Prominent national advocates include former U.S. Presidents
George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter and their wives, as well
as the owners of a half-dozen National Football League
teams, such as the Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans,
Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins.

Presbyterians Bob and Janice McNair, owners of the NFL
Houston Texans, worship at Memorial Drive Presbyterian
Church in Houston. H. Wayne Huizenga and family, owners of
the NFL Miami Dolphins, worship at First Presbyterian
Church in Fort Lauderdale.

On Feb. 1, when the Pittsburgh Steelers square off against
the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL's Super Bowl XLIII, nearly
15,000 youth organizations of all denominations and stripes
nationwide will wage a more epic battle against hunger and
poverty.

Last year, more than 2,300 Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
congregations participated in the Souper Bowl of Caring,
raising more than $1 million of the $10 million total
raised.

The Souper Bowl of Caring is as simple as holding soup pots
at church doors following worship on Super Bowl Sunday and
asking worshippers to drop in a dollar to help those who
are hungry. Each group then donates their collection
directly to the charity of their choice - no money is sent
to Souper Bowl of Caring headquarters. Organizers simply
ask that groups report their collection amount so a
national total can be determined.

In many communities, the Souper Bowl has expanded to
include a variety of service projects in addition to the
Sunday collection of money and food.

"Presbyterians have a rich history and strong tradition of
bearing witness of the gospel to the world," Smith, now an
ordained PC(USA) minister who is executive director of the
Souper Bowl of Caring, said. "The Souper Bowl of Caring is
a contemporary example of that."

The Presbyterian Hunger Program typically contributes money
to the campaign to help meet administrative expenses and
provides Souper Bowl resources to PC(USA) congregations.

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