By Anne Marie Amacher
Helping those who are hungry in their local communities was the goal of youths raising money through the Souper Bowl of Caring.
The annual, nation-wide Souper Bowl of Caring event held earlier this month is designed to “mobilize youth to fight hunger and poverty in their local communities,” according to the Souper Bowl of Caring website. Here are fundraising reports from parishes in the diocese that provided information about their Souper Bowl efforts:
• St. Mary Parish in Albia asked parishioners to donate cans of soup to the local food pantry. Cans and $30 cash will be donated to Helping Hands Center in Albia.
• Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Bettendorf Iowa collected $616.50 and 320 cans of food that was donated to the Bettendorf Food Pantry.
• St. Boniface Parish in Farmington collected $103 and donated it to Southern Iowa Economic Association — a community action center for Van Buren County. The youth planned another collection as well.
• Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish in Davenport raised $984 for Churches United of the Quad Cities Area.
• St. Mary Parish in Grinnell collected $496.42 that will be donated to Kids Against Hunger, a program which provides nutritious, specially formulated meals for children suffering from hunger. St. Mary’s will pack the meals on Feb. 20 as a service project.
• St. Wenceslaus Parish in Iowa City featured a soup can contest based on the actual Super Bowl game between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers. The “Packers and Padre” collection netted 107 cans of soup while “Pitt and Pat” netted 49 cans. The Packers won the Super Bowl, but the Crisis Center of Johnson County won this “souper bowl.”
• St. Anthony Parish in Knoxville collected $331.16 and about 200 food items. Helping Hands Food Pantry in Knoxville will benefit from the collection.
• Our Lady of the River Parish in LeClaire raised $577.80. That money will go to Central City Circle Community Food Pantry in Davenport.
• Confirmation students from St. Alphonsus Parish in Mount Pleasant collected money after all Masses Feb. 5-6 and raised $692.76. Twelve youths participated and donated the money to The Fellowship Cup in Mount Pleasant.
• St. Mary of the Visitation and St. Patrick parishes in Ottumwa combined their collection. Together they collected $1,452. One half of the collection ($726) will go to the Men’s Outreach Center and the other half will go to the Ecumenical Lord’s Cupboard.
