Souper Bowl of Caring 2008
A Message from the Executive Director
Dear friends:
Every one of us would give a hungry child a meal in a heartbeat if it was in our power to just do it. I'd like to make that good deed as simple as possible for folks in your church through the Souper Bowl of Caring. I've never seen something so effective that is so easy and simple to do.
But let me tell you first why we need your help. Last year we served almost 15,000 meals to children here in our nation's capital, most of whom live in poverty. Every child who came to our after-school program in Southeast DC received a hot, nutritious, home-cooked meal every day. During the summer, we had daily participation of about 100 kids during our nine weeks of day camp at two inner city sites, with three meals served each day. These are kids who get free lunches at school but sometimes literally go hungry at home. They can count on City Gate for a hot supper, and for daily meals during school vacations. Through our partnership with the food bank, we also are able to send home a bag of groceries each weekend. In addition, we also stock a food pantry, and distributed 150 Thanksgiving (with turkey) and Christmas food baskets to provide families with a complete holiday meal.
We need just a little help from our friends to keep this going and growing in 2008, which is why we are asking if you could participate on our behalf in a simple but effective mission project called the Souper Bowl of Caring on February 3. People are encouraged to drop a dollar in a basket or soup pot when leaving worship services on Super Bowl Sunday. You send a check for that amount to City Gate at our administrative office (PO Box 54138, Washington, DC 20032) for our hunger programs. We will send you a receipt, and report the totals to the Souper Bowl of Caring headquarters (this is a national program with thousands of churches participating). Regardless of who wins the Super Bowl, the big winners are the children we serve.
Because of our partnership with the Food Bank, it only costs a dollar to provide a meal. Every dollar dropped into a basket or pot on Super Bowl Sunday translates directly into a meal for a child. There's no overhead or promotion cost, no paperwork, just an incredibly simple concept where churches across the country will invite worshippers to give a dollar after church, and then will send those funds directly to the charity of their choice. We're asking you to choose our kids!
We have prepared a packet of materials to make your work as pastor (or other staff member, or mission chair, etc.) as simple as possible. It's all laid out – timeline, tasks, announcements, usable worship and educational resources!
Thanks for your partnership,
Lynn Bergfalk, Executive Director
P.S. The kids we serve are almost all under the federal poverty level and qualify for free school lunches. Some literally would go without during out-of-school time if it were not for the meals we serve. Because of how we leverage resources, I don't know anywhere a dollar could have a larger or more immediate impact.