SOUPER BOWL RAISES MONEY FOR HUNGER

While millions of Americans filled up on pizza, chili and potato chips during the Super Bowl, local youth used the occasion to raise money to support the hungry in Southeast Missouri.

The youth, working through local churches, participated in the ninth annual "Souper Bowl of Caring."

The national campaign began in 1990 with a senior high youth group from a Columbia, S.C., church. The group encouraged every member of the church to contribute a can of food and one dollar to a local food pantry.

Since then, the movement has grown to stretch across all 50 states and into Canada, with over 5,500 congregations participating last year and raising more than $1 million.

Organizers of the effort don't control the use of the donations. In fact, they never touch a penny of it. Instead, each church is asked to donate its collection directly to the charity it chooses.

Standing at the back of church as the worship services close, the youth from participating churches use large soup pots to collect donations as parishioners leave the sanctuaries on the morning of the Super Bowl.

Youth from Westminster Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau, taking part in the program for their sixth straight year, collected $66 and 67 cans of food, which they will contribute to the local FISH food pantry.

Karen Walker, youth leader for the church, said that the event helps the congregation focus on the needs of hungry people in Cape Girardeau.

"People will be spending a lot of money buying food for the game. Here is a time where we can put the focus on the fact that a lot of people don't have the money to buy food," she said.

For the youth of Centenary United Methodist Church, participation in the Souper Bowl is a part of a larger mission to help with world hunger. Half of the $183 they collected on Sunday will go to FISH, the other half to the local Salvation Army.