Souper Bowl of Caring is our church’s mission to fight hunger and poverty in the community done around the time of Super Bowl football game. You are encouraged to give generously as we take up collection using a soup pot on Sunday February 12, 2023. Recipient will be Bread Of Life.
Food for the body…nurture for the soul.” Bread of Life, Malden is a faith-based ministry serving the communities north of Boston, with a mission to feed the body and to nurture the soul. We strive to feed the hungry, the homeless, the needy and the isolated; to offer spiritual nurture, support and hospitality; to promote greater peace and justice by addressing broader issues of hunger, poverty, and need; and to conduct our work in a spirit of respect and nonviolence.
The Souper Bowl Beginning
A simple prayer: “Lord, even as we enjoy the Super Bowl football game, help us be mindful of those who are without a bowl of soup to eat” is inspiring a youth-led movement to help hungry and hurting people around the world.
This prayer, delivered by Brad Smith, then a seminary intern serving at Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC, gave birth to an idea. Why not use Super Bowl weekend, a time when people come together for football and fun, to also unify the nation for a higher good: collecting dollars and canned food for the needy? Youth could collect donations at their schools and churches in soup pots, and then send every dollar DIRECTLY to a local charity of THEIR choice.
The senior high youth of Spring Valley Presbyterian liked the idea so much they decided to invite other area churches to join the team. Twenty-two Columbia churches participated that first year, reporting their results so a total could be determined, and then sending all $5,700 they had raised to area non-profits.
That was 1990. Since then, ordinary young people have generated an extraordinary more than $170 million for soup kitchens, food banks and other charities in communities across the country. In addition, hundreds of thousands of youth have experienced for themselves the joy and satisfaction of giving and serving, inspiring people of all ages to follow their generous example.