Souper Bowl fills a need

It’s not just about football.

Churches nationwide are making Super Bowl Sunday a day of charity to raise millions of dollars for the poor.

Hours before Sunday’s showdown between the Giants and New England Patriots, church youth groups carrying empty soup pots will collect cash and food from worshippers and donate the proceeds to local charities.

The effort by dozens of churches in New Jersey alone – as part of the national Souper Bowl of Caring program – raised nearly $200,000 last year for organizations like the Center for Food Action.

“It’s so simple – the kids just jump on it,” said the Rev. Kent Smith, associate pastor at West Side Presbyterian Church in Ridgewood, N.J. “It’s a chance for the kids to do some good.”

It’s also a chance for churches to sound a spiritual note on a day when millions of Americans are preoccupied with parties and sports.

“So many of us stuff our faces on Super Bowl Sunday,” said Michelle Heinzinger, director of Christian education for the First Congregational Church of River Edge, N.J.

“But right in our own area, people are starving.”

The idea originated at a South Carolina church where a seminary intern made this impromptu prayer on Super Bowl Sunday in 1988: “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.”

Brad Smith, an ordained minister and executive director of the Souper Bowl of Caring, said the prayer struck a chord.

“For some reason, that line stuck with me, and it was months later when it clicked,” he said.

“I was thinking of all the energy around the game, yet it’s coldest time of year, and a lot of folks are hungry. I felt if we could each give a dollar, boy that would be neat.”

He started the program in 1990 with 22 churches raising about $5,700. Last year, thousands of churches and other organizations nationwide raised more than $8 million, said Tracy Bender, a spokeswoman for the group.

All told, the effort has raised about $41 million since its inception. Smith said the reason for its success is its simplicity: People are asked to give a dollar or a can.

“Everybody has a dollar in their wallet,” he said. “It’s incredibly simple, and it has absolute integrity.”