What you can do Sunday for the Souper Bowl of Caring
With Super Bowl 50 mere hours away, many have a lot to do to get ready for the big game.
You can add something else to your party that can make people happier than a Super Bowl win.
It’s easy to participate in the Souper Bowl of Caring, a nationwide charity event held in conjunction with the NFL championship that began in Columbia 26 years ago.
“The Souper Bowl of Caring started with the idea that if everyone watching the big game gave $1, then we could make a huge stride in the fight against hunger and poverty,” said Sumner Bender, South Carolina field director for Souper Bowl of Caring.
Here are some statistics listed on the Souper Bowl of Caring website:
▪ 48 million Americans live in poverty
▪ 1 in 7 Americans face hunger every day
▪ More than 630,000 people in the United States are homeless
▪ 23 percent of those struggling went to college
▪ 16 million children live in food insecure households
Last year, more than 10,000 groups collected more than $8 million in dollars and food for local hunger-relief charities. More than $100 million has been collected since the Souper Bowl of Caring began in 1990.
So what can you do today?
Many Midlands churches are participating in collecting for the effort, so look out for donation bins there.
Or, as you watch the Panthers and Broncos, ask those watching the game with you to spare $1 or a food item.
Monday, take that money or those items to a local food bank or homeless shelter. Report to souperbowl.org how much you collected. “And know that you have made a difference in the life of someone in need,” Bender said.
“It is a time when we all come together. What if we were able to use that energy surrounding the big game to turn that weekend into the biggest weekend of giving and serving in the nation? We would make a huge impact. We could change the game.”
Lezlie Patterson, Special to The State
This story was originally published February 6, 2016 at 7:00 AM with the headline "What you can do Sunday for the Souper Bowl of Caring."