Sister Mary O’Brien, executive director of Tioga County Rural Ministry, thanks first grade students at Apalachin Elementary School (AES) for their help in the “Souper Bowl of Giving” activity. (Photos by JoAnn R. Walter)
Sister Mary of Tioga County Rural Ministry, chats with AES students about the “Souper Bowl of Giving” activity on Friday, Feb. 5.
First grade teacher, Lorri Mars, assists students with packing soup cans in boxes on Feb. 5. Five hundred forty-two cans of soup were collected by the AES community and donated to the Tioga County Rural Ministry food pantry.
Boxes of soup cans donated by the AES community are placed in the back of Sister Mary’s van on Friday, Feb. 5.
Students in Lorri Mars’ first grade class at Apalachin Elementary School (AES) participated in a special activity on the afternoon of Feb. 5, “The Souper Bowl of Giving.” Twenty-one students, some dressed in their favorite football team jersey on the Friday before the Super Bowl game, gathered to help count cans of soup.
Displayed in the main hallway of the school entrance, cans of soup were collected throughout the week of Feb. 1-5, all donated by students in grades Pre-K through fifth, their families, teachers, staff and other community members, and in turn were donated to the Tioga County Rural Ministry.
Mars shared, “The students couldn’t wait for this day to come. Every time we walked by the soup display during the week, they remarked at how excited they were.”
Now in its second year, the first annual Souper Bowl of Giving in 2015 collected just over 300 cans of soup. Principal Joe DiCosimo helped tally the final total this year and announced, “542 cans!”
The Souper Bowl collection was held for one day last year, where this year it was coordinated for an entire week. Mars hopes the activity will become an annual activity.
Mars stated, “The students and all of us are excited to help other people, and to make a difference in the community.”
Sister Mary O’Brien, Tioga County Rural Ministry executive director, visited the school to pick up the donation. Sister Mary explained that Tioga County Rural Ministry receives a limited selection of soup from their partner, the Food Bank of the Southern Tier, which usually consists of three different kinds of soup. The AES community, by bringing in multiple varieties of soups, will serve many families in need and also give them new choices.
The Tioga County Rural Ministry, located at 143 North Ave. in Owego, N.Y., serves approximately 157 families each month in the Owego area and surrounding communities within Tioga County. The only food pantry open five days a week in Tioga County, the supply of food in the first several weeks following the holiday season gets low, and Sister Mary also appreciates the AES donation for this reason.
When asked who should win the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 7, first grade student Payton Newman, who sported a green New York Jets shirt for the AES “Souper Bowl”, replied, “Peyton Manning’s team.”
That answer scores a touchdown from the first grade student whose name happens to be Payton.
