The Statesboro Food Bank held their second annual SOUPer Bowl event on Saturday, February 8, 2025. Local chefs made pots of soup for guests to eat, and local artisans crafted special bowls for serving. Combining their culinary and ceramic talents, they came together to feed people in a special way, just as the food bank does daily for our community.
Attendees could buy different tickets depending on what size bowl they wanted, and the money raised will feed about 1,500 local families through the food bank's programming.
The soup line-up consisted of vegan mushroom and wild rice soup; vegan curry pumpkin with a hint of coconut; hearty minestrone; broccoli cheese soup; corn chowder with bacon; navy beans with smoked ham; sausage creole with rice; African soup with smoked pork, sweet potatoes, and greens; and finally homemade pound cakes provided by the ladies of the Flora Hagin WMS of Mt. Zion AME Church.
The "soup crew", consisting of Shannon Ward, Elaine Minick Stone, Shannon Grindler, and Michael Pratt cooked and donated more than 30 gallons of soup for the event. Leftovers were not wasted; they were included in meal boxes for families the following week.
There were $8 tickets for children and a Budget-Friendly Bowl for $15. For $30, guests could buy a collectible bowl to eat their soup in, and for $50, there were handmade ceramic bowls made by the Roxie Remley Artists of the Averitt Center for the Arts.
The Averitt Center for the Arts was one of the sponsors of the event, along with Statesboro Properties, The Heaston Family, Morris Bank, Ogeechee Technical College, Brodie International, BBWH Insurors, Dabbs, Hickman, Hill & Cannon, LLP, and United Healthcare.
Rhonda Robinson is an agent with United Healthcare who came to represent the company. She had a table set up with United Healthcare cups, back scratchers, pamphlets, and other merchandise for the guests to take.
This is the second annual SOUPer Bowl fundraiser held by the Statesboro Food Bank. Last year, 225 tickets were sold, and this year, there were 226 tickets sold, raising much needed funds for this community helper.
"The Statesboro Food Bank's Souper Bowl Saturday was a rousing success! Beautiful bowls, eight yummy soups to choose from and a wonderful spirit of neighborly and community comraderie," shared Sheila Stewart-Leach, executive director of the food bank. "Thank you to everyone who came to support our annual event."
Jasmine Haynes is in charge of marketing for the food bank. For the first SOUPer Bowl, Haynes helped brainstorm ideas for a fundraiser and found that it was common for people to make soups around the weekend of the Super Bowl.
"Last year we had a lot of support from the community," Haynes said. "We didn’t have a venue, and we were able to partner with Pittman Park. They let us use their facility in order for us to make this a success.” This year, they were happy to be in their own space and Haynes knows it is all thanks to community support.
"The food bank is not just a face," Haynes said. "If I were to just go back home tomorrow, someone from the community would step up."
Key volunteers at the Souper Bowl included Patricia Wasson Carter and Greg Carter from Charlie's Funky Junk Shop, the Lee Street girls, Sophia Harris-Johnson, the Chasing Freedom men, and numerous others.
The Statesboro Food Bank moved into a new building in July, but they haven't officially opened it to the public, although it's fully operational for distributing food to families in need. Stewart-Leach says they hope to have the new building fully open by the summer, and she's looking forward to everything it will mean for expanding their reach in helping our community.
"It has the potential to grow into more," Stewart-Leach said of the event. "We'll be able to take the event and expand it."
