Tomorrow’s Super Bowl will climax another exciting season of football. But for Crosslines Churches of the Joplin Area that excitement will continue to the end of the month.
Crosslines, as it has for the last 15 years, has been participating in the Souper Bowl of Caring, an effort to collect food and funds for the needy in connection with the National Football League’s biggest game of the year.
“Although we do this in connection with the Super Bowl, it takes some time for the churches to get everything collected and brought in,” said Kathy Lewis, executive director of Crosslines. “We collect until the end of February but our churches cut it off the Sunday after Super Bowl. However, they continue the goods to Crosslines until the end of the month.”
Crosslines is a mission of concerned volunteers working together across denominational lines to meet human needs.
People who benefit from this largest food drive of the year for Crosslines are those referred from the Missouri Department of Family Services (including those signed up for food stamps), Economic Security Corporation, Red Cross, Community Hospice and any of the 63 supporting churches.
“A lot of our churches use this as their biggest food drive of the year,” Lewis said. “Whether a can of soup or nonperishable, we count each thing as one item and last year we collected 9,606 items, which was our most ever. We put all the food in our pantry and give it out through referral.”
Lewis said that number of families who avail themselves of the food pantry has tripled since 2003.
Each January Crosslines sends out information on the Souper Bowl to participating churches, which then detail it in their bulletins or newsletters. The information is also sent out at the end of December via the Crosslines newsletter.
“This year I plan to be brave and go out to the sports bars and see if they would like to partner with us by asking their patrons if they would like to bring in a can of soup when they come to watch the Super Bowl,” Lewis said.
Crosslines, at 131 S. High St., behind the outfield fence in Joe Becker Stadium, started in 1982 with the support of 10 churches.
“It used to be just our churches and then we got a lot of community partners involved, including a lot of businesses,” Lewis said.
In addition to help from churches, there are 250 volunteers and three part-time paid office staff members who assist people from the Joplin, Webb City and Carl Junction areas.
A senior high youth group from Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in Columbia, S.C., started the Souper Bowl of Caring in 1990. Twenty two churches raised $5,700 in that initial effort.
Last year the drive set a new national record of $10.3 million in cash and food.
More information is available on the Web site www.souperbowl.org or, locally, you may call Crosslines at 782-8384. Tax-deductible checks may also be sent to Crosslines at P.O. Box 1242, Joplin, MO 64802. The center is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday to receive donations.
Address correspondence to Rich Brown, c/o The Joplin Globe, P.O. Box 7, Joplin, MO 64802, or rbrown@joplinglobe.com.
Worship
Related Photos
Discussion
Rich Brown: Food drive to extend well past NFL's big game
- Worship
-
-
85-year-old pastor stepping down after 40 years in ministry
When Harry Givens draws the curtain on four decades as a pastor Sunday, he can rest assured that, with God’s help, he made a difference in people‘s lives.
-
Superstar T.D. Jakes makes a confession
Now, this legendary preacher -- often listed as one of America’s most powerful evangelicals -- has taken a big step toward convincing critics that he is, in fact, an evangelical. Jakes has, after years of rumors about private assurances, publicly affirmed that he believes in the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.
-
Craig Tally, columnist: 'Proof texting' the Bible a common practice
Upon entering the home of a friend, I discovered some friendly sparring in process about America’s space program. My friend was in the midst of his “the Bible says so” argument just as I entered the room.
-
Crosslines holding 17th annual Souper Bowl of Caring
Crosslines Churches of the Joplin Area marks its 30th anniversary in March, and more than half of those years have been devoted to the Souper Bowl of Caring.
-
Terry Mattingly: Change happens slowly within church
In the fall of 1979, a cluster of Episcopalians made another trip to Rome seeking a haven for Anglo-Catholic believers anxious to exit their increasingly divided church.
-
Stephen ministers helping people get back on track
The fury of last year’s Joplin tornado may have subsided and the stress of the holidays passed, but demands on the Stephen Ministry are stronger than ever.
-
Craig Tally: End zone not the best place for prayer
Some say that the kneeling/prayer in the end zone is about honoring God and being grateful for one’s talent and opportunity, not about God helping the score. If so, then why do we not see a receiver bow in prayer following a dropped pass? Or, why do we not see a running back point heavenward following a fumble?
-
Forest Park’s Mission Joplin getting big boost from Carthage campus
Since last May, Forest Park Baptist Church has provided relief to tornado victims through Mission Joplin, an outreach that continues to provide help to needy families today and will get an added boost later this year when the church’s remote campus in Carthage relocates to a much larger building.
-
Terry Mattingly: Significant assassinations didn’t make group’s list
In terms of giant headlines and spilled ink, there is no question that the lightning strike by U.S. special forces that killed Osama bin Laden was the year’s most spectacular news event featuring a deadly brew of religion, politics and violence.
-
Banner year: New addition gives boost to country church near Goodman
Deep in the southwest corner of Missouri, about an hour from Joplin, a pastor and his congregation are giving new meaning to country church.
- More Worship Headlines
-
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate
US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany
Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria
Romney Slams President Obama at CPAC
Gingrich: Pres. Obama 'waging War on Religion'
5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La.
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart
