High School helps out with Souper Bowl during Super Bowl week

February 2, 2015

by Katie Colson All the enthusiasm and excitement around the Super Bowl inspired a meaningful community event at BFHS last week. The NFL Super Bowl is an annual event we all have come to know and love. For some it is the commercials, for others the sport, and for many it is the Halftime show. However the Super Bowl is enjoyed, lots of money and energy are poured into it. At the Bonners Ferry High School, Super Bowl now has a new meaning: giving. In the week running up to the Super Bowl, the Leadership Class at the high school started a food drive called the Souper Bowl of Caring. This is a national organization created by a youth leader in 1990 to capitalize on the energy surrounding the Super Bowl to give back to those in need in local communities. The organization has grown from that one group, and since then over 100 million dollars has been given to communities in need. The Leadership Class sent representatives to other classes to introduce this new food drive, and to open students’ eyes to startling facts about hunger and poverty in our country. They had students take a questionnaire last Wednesday. On Thursday, they did a demonstration with M&M’s®. Three people received plenty of M&M’s®, the rest of the class had four or fewer. The purpose of these demonstrations was to show the students the hardship that is happening all around them, and to encourage them to participate in the food drive that concludes today, on Monday. Students were asked to donate cans of food, or dollar bills to help their community. The questionnaire revealed many shocking facts. According to this questionnaire, the United States has the highest wage inequality of any other industrialized nation. Seventeen percent of U.S. children live in food insecure households. Many clients of America’s Second Harvest (a nationwide network of food banks) often have to choose between food and other basic necessities. Thirty-five million people live in food insecure households. Ten percent of America’s Second Harvest are elderly. Thirty-seven percent of adults requesting emergency assistance are employed. Forty-five percent of U.S. cities cannot provide adequate food to those in need. It cost 3 million dollars to buy a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, 854 million people are going hungry across the globe, even though the world produces 12% more food than the population could consume. These facts revealed the hardship that so many Americans face on a daily basis. It showed that everyone can make a difference and help out those in need. By pulling together, we are able to make life better for everyone and give them their best chance. With this information in mind, BFHS students donated and raised food and cash last week to help those in need, as part of the BFHS Souper Bowl, held during Super Bowl week.