Souper Bowl of Caring
"...for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me..." - Matthew 25:35 This year MPC is participating in the Souper Bowl of Caring campaign. A national program started in a church in SC in 1990, it empowers youth and unites communities around the time of the Big Game to help those in need. Using the Big Game as a platform, churches, businesses, civic groups, schools, are all called on to participate and notify Souper Bowl of Caring of their results. The participants determine the action and the recipient. It can be a cash fundraiser, a service project, a food collection. We are collecting cans of soup and donating them to the Media Food Bank. Did you know? (From the HungerAmerica.org website - FOOD INSECURITY IN THE U.S. [see ref. 5])
As of 2016, 41.2 million Americans live in food-insecure households, including 28.3 million adults and 12.9 million children.
The majority of people who are food insecure do not live in poverty, and the majority of people who live in poverty are not food insecure. An estimated 58% of food-insecure individuals reside in households that earn more than 100% of the poverty line, and 61% of people living in poor households are in fact food secure.
An estimated 27% of individuals who are considered food insecure live in households that earn incomes above 185% of the poverty line, making them likely ineligible for most federal nutrition assistance programs.
12 percent of households (15.6 million households) are estimated to be food insecure.
5 percent of households (6.1 million households) experience very low food security.
Households with children report food insecurity at a significantly higher rate than those without children, 17% compared to 11%.
Households that have higher rates of food insecurity than the national average include households with children (17%), especially households with children headed by single women (32%) or single men (22%), Black non-Hispanic households (23%) and Hispanic households (19%).
As of 2015, 5.4 million seniors (over age 60), or 8% of all seniors, are estimated to be food insecure. (ref. 6)
Food insecurity exists in every county in America, ranging from a low of 3% in Grant County, KS to a high of 38% in Jefferson County, MS.(ref. 7)
In 2017 Souper Bowl of Caring reported a value of $10,141,972 in cash & food items collected, 6,529 groups participated, 932,978 food items were donated weighing 4,782,240 lbs., and 4,820 charities were helped. One day. One can. WE CAN. Make a difference on Sunday morning, February 4th. Bring a can of soup (or two) to service with you. Ask your friends to contribute a can at your big game celebration. Bring a can to “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” (there will be receptacles available and labeled in Dale Hall). Shop as a family, share the topics of hunger and food insecurity. Pray for those that struggle. Join us in alleviating hunger in our immediate community. "If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbor. You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be." - Deuteronomy 15: 7-8 Peace, Nikki References: 1) Semega, J.L., K.R. Fontenot, and M.A. Kollar. (2017). Income and Poverty in the United States: 2016.U.S. Census Bureau. 2) Renwick, T. & L. Fox (2017). The Research Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2016. U.S. Census Bureau. 3) Ibid. 4) Feeding America,Hunger in America 2014, National Report. August 2014. 5) Coleman-Jensen, A., Rabbitt, M. P., Gregory, C., & Singh, A. (2017).Household Food Security in the United States in 2016.USDA ERS. 6) Ziliak, J.P. & Gundersen, C. (2017) The State of Senior Hunger in America 2015: An Annual Report, Supplement.Feeding America and The National Foundation to End Senior Hunger (NFESH). 7) Gundersen, C., A. Dewey, A. Satoh, M. Kato & E. Engelhard. Map the Meal Gap 2017: Food Insecurity and Child Food Insecurity Estimates at the County Level. Feeding America, 2017. 8) Coleman-Jensen, A., Rabbitt, M. P., Gregory, C., & Singh, A. (2017).Household Food Security in the United States in 2016.USDA ERS.
