Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Reminder Assistant Editor LONGMEADOW The New England Patriots will continue their pursuit for perfection this season as they head to the Super Bowl to face off with the New York Giants on Feb. 3. Players on both teams, regardless if they win or lose, will end up making hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars this year. Those players will also live in large, heated homes and will have food available whenever they want it, unlike the homeless struggling to survive in the Pioneer Valley. Before you start the party on on Super Bowl Sunday, consider stopping by St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, located at 335 Longmeadow St., to donate to the Souper Bowl of Caring. Established by Brad Smith, a seminary intern serving at Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in Columbia, S.C., in 1990, the Souper Bowl of Caring has expanded to all 50 states through the kindness of congregations, schools, civic clubs and businesses. The mission of the organization is to utilize the Super Bowl weekend to mobilize youth to fight hunger and poverty in their local communities. The prayer that started this movement asks, "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." On the same Sunday as the big game, the various groups collect donations for local food pantries and homeless shelters using soup bowls. This year, St. Andrew's is collecting for the shelter on Worthington Street in downtown Springfield. The Souper Bowl collection is part of the church's "Church Without Walls" program, according to Father Larry Provenzano. "I do something that kind of annoys our congregation [that Sunday]," Provenzano laughed. "I say 'I know you're all going to Super Bowl parties tonight. All I ask is you donate 10 percent of what you would spend on yourself tonight.'" He added that the Souper Bowl is a "unique opportunity because we all love football but often get caught up in the commercialism of it." "I want people to at least be mindful of what others do not have," Provenzano said, "and be mindful of the needs of people." St. Andrew's has been participating in the Souper Bowl of Caring regularly for approximately 10 years. Provenzano said the church has raised a significant amount of money during the past decade, with between $300 and $400 being collected last year. The collection itself is conducted by two youth groups of St. Andrew's, Rite-13 and Journey to Adulthood (J2A). Rite-13 is made up of seventh and eighth graders and J2A is made up of freshmen and sophomores in their last two years of formal Christian education. Having the two groups conduct the collection teaches them an important lesson, according to Provenzano. "The focus of the programs is to have the teens look at the ways their journey and their church will affect their lives," he stated. "All of this is about doing for others, sharing resources and opening hearts and minds." While St. Andrew's does not choose a goal for each Souper Bowl of Caring, Provenzano said he would love to have $1,000 collected in the bowls this year. In 2007, $8,170,198 were collected for those who needed it most; 20 different groups in the local towns of Longmeadow, East Longmeadow, Springfield, Wilbraham, Agawam, West Springfield, South Hadley and Granby contributed to that total. This year, 16,490 groups have registered to participate. St. Andrew's Episcopal Church will be collecting during four different services for the 2008 Souper Bowl of Caring -- Feb. 2 at 5 p.m. and Feb. 3 at 8 and 10 a.m. as well as 6 p.m. Provenzano, who has been with the church for 13 years, said he doesn't expect many congregants to attend the 6 p.m. service on Sunday, however. "Kick-off is at 6:18 p.m., after all," he joked. For more information on the Souper Bowl of Caring, visit the organization's Web site at www.souperbowl.org. |
