This time of year football fans are beginning to gear up for the biggest sporting event in America–the Super Bowl. Even if you don’t get into the actual game, it’s hard not to get caught up in all the hype. There are Super Bowl parties, game-day food with a plethora of chili, not to mention the highly entertaining commercials.
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Hampton, VA wanted to harness the pre-existing excitement already surrounding the Super Bowl to do good for their community.
The church paired up with the Souper Bowl of Caring, a national organization who provides free promotional material to encourage a united effort across the country to raise money and collect food for hungry people. Anything collected goes directly back to an organization in the community where donation were made.
Joe Kruckow and Mike Karns going over the answers to the trivia quiz during last year’s Souper Bowl Party at St. Paul’s
St. Paul’s has been having their own Souper Bowl for over 10 years and contributing to Hampton Roads Ecumenical Lodgings and Provisions, Inc. (H.E.L.P.).
“When you feed someone who is hungry, you are doing for them what you would do for Christ,” said Sue Clemens, the church secretary and one of the organizers for this effort. “These people don’t always know where the food comes from, but they are being loved.”
Not only is this an effort for congregation members to practice their faith, the Souper Bowl at St. Paul’s also provides an opportunity for fellowship. After collecting food all during the month of January, they have a Souper Bowl party right after church on Sunday during the regular scheduled coffee hour where the collection totals are announced.
There is traditional tailgate food, decorations, and even some football trivia put together by Joe Kruckow, the Church Treasurer.
Pastor Chris Farrow supporting her Wisconsin heritage and the Minnesota Vikings simultaneously
“It develops community here and almost everyone gets into it. For some members, this may be the only coffee hour that they stay for all year,” Kruckow said.
“No matter which teams end up in the Super Bowl, there is always a high level of excitement, but we also have quite the Cowboys fan base here.”
“For the last couple of years, I’ve put up a football chart, made up team names for the various kinds of soup such as New England Clams and the Baltimore Ramens and I’ve kept score of the donations to try to get some friendly competition going,” Clemens said.Sue Clemens uses her creativity to bring in a touch of competitiveness to the food drive.
Even though they use the Super Bowl to drum up some extra excitement, donating food to H.E.L.P is an ongoing effort of St. Paul’s. They gather food throughout the year, coming up with a new theme for each month. Clemens said that one of the most successful months was when they asked for green food in March for St. Patrick’s day.
“When new members come to this they see that our church is working to accomplish really great things and that we have a good time doing it. “Kruckrow said.
