Before faithful football fans hunker down in front of their TV screens on Super Bowl Sunday, hundreds of church youths will seek donations for another bowl event next week.
The teens will hold kettles, pots and soup bowls outside their houses of worship to accept offerings from members as they leave services. It's all part of the annual Souper Bowl of Caring.
The proceeds go to local charities that feed the hungry. Some also collect canned goods.
"It gives people an opportunity to give back and it's a good way to [capitalize] on what is a holiday for some people," said Beth Schwarz, a member of St. George's Episcopal Church on Princess Anne Street in Fredericksburg.
The 17-year-old James Monroe High School student, who has done this for the past three years, said the church donates the collected money to a mobile soup kitchen sponsored by Storehouse ministry, a local food pantry on Airport Avenue off State Route 2.
St. George's youth group volunteers once a month at the soup kitchen that delivers food, meals to homeless people staying in local motels.
A growing number of churches around the Fredericksburg area are joining in to collect the Souper Bowl offering.
The idea originated in 1990 with the youth group at Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in Columbia, S.C.
The group was inspired after hearing a 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." The effort went national in 1993.
More than 12,000 congregations throughout the country participated in the event last year and raised $4.2 million, according to the group's Web site, souperbowl.org. None of the money goes to the national organization.
"It makes us aware of the homeless and hungry in our own immediate area," said Myrtle Campbell, who attends Fairview Baptist Church on Charlotte Street.
Campbell is one of the leaders of Acteens, a Baptist mission group for teenage girls at Fairview. The group has collected about $500 in the past Souper Bowl offerings and donated money to local shelters, the Thurman Brisben Center and Hope House.
Like last year, Acteens will buy food with the money and stock Fairview's food pantry, which is used to feed the needy on an emergency basis.
To reach JESSICA ALLEN: 540/368-5036 jiallen@freelancestar.com