The “Souper” Bowl

February 5th, 2008 at 5:32 pm

I know, I know. The Giants won on Sunday. But before the real “games” started, Sacred Heart got down to business and won something too. We won a little battle against the fight on hunger. For the week leading up to the Super Bowl, we sponsored our own “Souper Bowl” program; we asked students to take a little extra time when buying their Sunday night snacks to put aside an extra bit of money or buy an extra canned good. The result? Over $1,400 in donations and over 1,000 cans.

A little back story; the St. Charles food pantry in Bridgeport, CT, serves thousands of people each month; but during the holiday season, they actually ran out of food. I’ll repeat that; they ran out of food. 854 million people across the world are hungry right now, and Bridgeport isn’t spared in that terrible statistic.

The SHU ONE Campaign decided that was unacceptable; and so we got together, got the word out there, and really did something. When we delivered all the food (which took a considerable amount of effort and a large van) – we literally stocked the completely empty shelves full. It was an awesome experience, and it just shows that there is a lot to be done not just in areas of extreme poverty abroad, but in your own home or college towns right here.