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KUTV and Utah School Districts Gear Up for Souper Bowl of Caring

1,133 views · Published 10 January 2014 · 4:12 · Indexed 25 October 2026

Channel: KUTV 2 News Salt Lake City · 2014 · News & Politics

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Child poverty and hunger are reaching alarming levels in Utah. More than 175,000 Utah kids are eligible for free school breakfasts and lunches and another 50,000 are eligible for reduced cost meals. Tragically these students are not eating well on the weekends. They should eat seven meals between Friday lunch and Monday breakfast, but they don't. When they don't eat, they can't do homework and they don't play and exercise.  You have a chance to change the lives of these children. The Utah Food Bank has three different programs focused on feeding children. The Kids Caf program delivers 1,700 hot after-school meals. Just as a bookmobile serves communities without a library, the Utah Food Bank's foodmobile serves communities without food pantries. There is also a growing Back Pack program which provides children with easy to open snacks for the weekend. The Utah Food Bank provides Backpacks for one child for just $5 for one weekend and $180 for the 36 week school year. How do we increase the funding to expand these small but successful programs?The Souper Bowl of Caring's 20 year history shows it is an excellent vehicle to fight child hunger. In 1990 a South Carolina Sunday school teacher used Super Bowl parties as a modern day example of gluttony. Fans eat wings, pizzas and chips they don't need while in the same town someone else goes hungry. The class asked everyone leaving church on Super Bowl Sunday to donate $1 from their Super Bowl party budget to fight hunger. The first year 22 churches raised $5,700. In four years they expanded to 36 states, the 7th year they surpassed $1 million and the next year they passed $2 million. From 2008-2012 they averaged almost $10 million per year, but the Souper Bowl of Caring remains largely unknown west of Texas.KUTV General Manager Kent Crawford is combining the Souper Bowl of Caring, with the reach of his TV stations and website to combat child hunger. With the help of six sponsors, Crawford is running a major 5 week advertising campaign from January 13th to February 16th and a day long telethon during the newscasts on January 31st, the Friday preceding the Super Bowl. He would like to see every school district in Utah raise awareness of this problem and show students they are part of the solution by participating in the 2014 Souper Bowl of Caring.Organize your school, ask the students, the staff and faculty to skip the chips or a soda and donate the money to the Souper Bowl of Caring. Some schools will also be collecting donations in front of grocery stores; donations can also be made to your school districts education foundation. They are partnering with the Utah Food Bank or a local food pantry to fight child hunger. Some Utah schools have principals and teachers who have offered to shave their head or dye their hair if the school reaches a large goal. Donations can be reported online at souperbowl.org or call 1-1800-358-SOUP. The schools with the highest totals on January 29th might be picked to appear on KUTVs Souper Bowl of Caring telethon on the Friday before the Super Bowl. On January 31, KUTV will be raising money all day  so encourage everyone you know to watch and donate!Then on Super Bowl Sunday, pass the hat at your Super Bowl party. It doesn't matter if you watch the game with 2 people, 20 people or 200 people - pass the hat and ask everyone for a few dollars and either donate the money at your school on Monday and update your total at the Souper Bowl of Caring website and watch the total grow! For more visit souperbowl.org (Copyright 2014 Sinclair Broadcasting Group.)

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