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Teens help feed the hungry with Souper Bowl of Caring
Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published January 13, 2006
Detroit — Teens holding soup kettles and asking for $1 donations will be seen outside many Catholic churches after Masses on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5, as part of the Souper Bowl of Caring to benefit local charities.
Now in its 16th year, the program has drawn participation from a few local Catholic parishes in past years, but this year has been promoted by the Archdiocese of Detroit as a way for local Catholic teens to be involved on the day the National Football League's championship Super Bowl XL will be played in Detroit.
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Kathy Lynch (at left), of St. Aloysius Community Center, offers information on downtown Detroit's homeless population to Chukwudi Nwamba, Crystal San Mateo, Chigozie Uwazurike, Jessica Azumah and Ogechi Nwadinobi. | While parishes are free to direct donations to any local charity that feeds the hungry, the fund-raising effort could turn out to be a big help to St. Aloysius Center, an outreach program of St. Aloysius Parish in downtown Detroit.
The archdiocese recommended the center, which serves from 400 to 700 homeless persons a day, just blocks from Ford Field where the Super Bowl will be played, as a good charity to support. Open mornings from Monday through Saturday, the center provides coffee, doughnuts, sandwiches and a place for homeless persons to warm up on wintry days and cool off on hot days. On Sundays, a Scripture study is offered.
The center's services also include clean clothing and Christian caring.
The Souper Bowl of Caring also encourages teens to get directly involved, and some parishes and schools have contacted St. Aloysius to volunteer, said Kathy Lynch, director of the center. That is in addition to many parishes, schools and colleges already  involved.
"We want to prove to the homeless that we care about them, and see that they're not neglected," said Jessica Azumah, 16, one of the teens from St. Ives Parish in Southfield who was helping at the center last Saturday.
Chigozie Uwazurike, 13, commented, "God says in the Bible that we should help others, and that He will help us."
For Chukwudi Nwamba, 13, the trip to St. Aloysius helped him understand "how bad it's getting out there for homeless people."
Another member of the Nigerian-American community at St. Ives, Ogechi Nwadinobi, 13, said, "It's good to give back to the community and show homeless people that people do care about them."
Crystal San Mateo, 13, who is of Filipino-American heritage, voiced similar sentiments. Volunteering at St. Aloysius is important, she said, "because people need to realize that things like this are going on and help people in need."
Lynch called the support the center receives from parishes and schools "phenomenal."
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Helping assemble hygiene kits –toothbushes, disposable razorsand other items – for the homelessat St. Aloysius Community Centerare (from left) Chigozie Uwazurike, 13,and Jessica Azumah, 16, of St. IvesParish, Southfield. | "This outreach center could not operate without the support of these churches and corporate contributors," she said.
Also, the St. Aloysius Food Pantry distributes more than 600 bags of groceries every Tuesday.
Dick Marcy, parish business manager, said teen involvement helps them "get a sense of the real world and the tough times some people have out there." And this early understanding of the need for charity is something that can carry over when they are adults, he added.
For Lynch, "it's exciting to see young people in action – to see them embrace the mission and ministry of serving, especially since Christ came to serve, not to be served."
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