PEORIA, Ill. – There’s a game on Sunday that has very little to do with football, and everything to do with giving.
Karol Castens, Missions and Outreach Co-Chair with Peoria’s Northwest United Methodist Church, explains.
“So, this is our third year of doing ‘Soup-er Bowl Sunday’. We started it to stock our food pantry that we had started. All the cans (of soup) that are donated go to refurbish.”
Last year, Northwest UMC collected nearly 700 cans of soup for their food pantry.
The church, located at 3800 W. War Memorial Drive in Peoria, opens up the “Daily Bread” Food Pantry on the fourth Saturday of each month to families in need.
On a typical Saturday, anywhere from 75-95 individuals will be served.
Castens says it’s rewarding to watch families receive bags and bags of healthy food, toiletries and other necessities.
Northwest’s Pastor Melissa Engel says the pantry is also an opportunity to let families in need know that they are loved.
“How we love God and love our neighbors, is by feeding the hungry. And, we are doing that.”
In the first two years of “Soup-er Bowl Sunday”, families were put onto one of two teams that were playing in the Super Bowl. This Sunday, families will place their soup cans on one of two shelves, either in support of the Seattle Seahawks, or the New England Patriots.
(1470 and 100.3 WMBD–Julia Bradley)
(1470 and 100.3 WMBD–Julia Bradley)
At the end of the month (February), the team with the most cans of soup will be declared the winner.
You can donate soup to the “Daily Bread” Food Pantry by contacting Northwest United Methodist Church by phone at (309) 692-0421 to make arrangements, or by dropping cans off during office hours on Tuesday and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
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