Eastminster Presbyterian Joins Souper Bowl of Caring to Raise $1 Million for Hunger Relief
Church with a history of serving launches Souper Bowl of Caring S.C. Million Dollar Challenge and asks community to join in efforts raising urgently needed funds for South Carolina organizations serving the hungry.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (January 14, 2021)—As South Carolina faces a global pandemic and its economic ramifications, more than 11 percent of the state’s population is now food insecure, meaning more than 600,000 of our neighbors are concerned about securing their next meal. In response, Eastminster Presbyterian Church (3200 Trenholm Rd.) in Columbia, which has participated in the Souper Bowl of Caring (SBOC) for 30 years, is asking other churches and service organizations throughout our state to join them in tackling hunger in South Carolina this winter. This “South Carolina Million Dollar Challenge” campaign, which aims to raise $1 million for hunger relief in our state, will kick off on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021 through Feb. 28. As an added incentive, Eastminster Presbyterian will provide matching funds. Organizations interested in participating should register now to receive materials.
Souper Bowl of Caring is a youth-inspired movement that was started in Columbia in 1990, and works across the nation to tackle hunger dollar by dollar and community by community. Churches, schools, civic groups and caring individuals can easily join our efforts this year. In response to a need in our state that’s greater than ever, and in an effort to see all South Carolinians unite in caring, Eastminster has made the commitment to match 15 percent of every organization’s funds collected. Participating groups send 100% of what they collect directly to a hunger relief non-profit they choose in their community. The matching funds will then be distributed as participants’ report totals.
Here’s how any church, school, Scout troop or any organization of any type or size can participate:
1. Visit TackleHunger.org and sign up your organization as a participant.
2. Pick a registered non-profit that addresses hunger or housing in your South Carolina town/city that will receive 100 percent of your collections.
3. Use the promotion kit that SBOC will rush to you to spread the word in your community about your upcoming Souper Bowl of Caring collection.
4. Beginning on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 7, collect dollars and cans of food. Your organization can continue to collect donations through the month of February.
5. Send all donations to your local charity of choice and report final results to SBOC via tacklehunger.org.
“Through my work with the World Food Program, I see every day the devastation of hunger. I see it in the hollow eyes of children and hear it in their soft pleas for help,” said David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Program and former governor of South Carolina. “Covid has brought exceptional pressures on our communities and our economy, so I am proud that my friends in South Carolina are mobilizing to meet the needs of the undernourished in my home state. I urge my fellow South Carolinians to generously support this humanitarian effort.”
As the first church to sign on to the South Carolina campaign in 2021, EPC will be collecting dollars and cans in all church services, virtual services included, on Sunday, Feb. 7.
“Many South Carolinians are struggling to make ends meet financially, and all of us are hungry for hope,” said Eastminster Senior Pastor and Founder of Souper Bowl of Caring Brad Smith. “By pulling together and moving beyond ourselves in this simple but significant way, ordinary South Carolinians can do extraordinary good, helping hungry neighbors and in that, enjoying a foretaste of the Kingdom of God.”
For more information on the South Carolina Million Dollar Challenge, SBOC, and how to participate in or donate to the challenge to help our neighbors in need, please visit TackleHunger.org.
About SOUPER BOWL OF CARING
SBOC began in 1990 as the idea of a youth pastor to collect dollars and cans of soup on Super Bowl Sunday to help feed the hungry in Columbia, S.C. The movement was born of his prayer: “Lord, even as we enjoy the Super Bowl Football game, help us be mindful of those people who are without a bowl of soup to eat.” Since that time, an aggregate of over $160 million has been donated to charities across America as the Souper Bowl of Caring has expanded into a national movement of congregations, schools and others working together to transform the time around the Super Bowl into a time of caring.
# # #
SCBIZtv is part of the SC Biz News family, serving 100,000 high-level business execs throughout South Carolina. Click for more from SCBIZtv.