Protestant Campus Minister Adele Langworthy spent the previous night preparing three large Crock-Pots of soup from scratch. Now that the room was supplied with enough refreshments, bowls, and spoons, all that was left was to wait for students to come in for a bite to eat.
It may sound like a new on-campus restaurant, but with the exception of yesterday, Cal State Long Beach’s Interfaith Center in the University Student Union is the furthest from it.
In correlation to Super bowl Sunday, Langworthy had been planning CSULB’s first-ever “Souper bowl” since last semester. Held in the Campus Interfaith Center yesterday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Souper Bowl of Caring, an event that originated in Columbia, S.C. in the 1990s, was an effort to fight hunger and poverty in the Long Beach community.
By requesting a donation in return a bowl of homemade soup, Langworthy, Methodist Campus Minister Mary Kay Will, and others, will be sending the money they raise to a local food bank or soup kitchen.
“None of the money [raised] supports administration, websites, or distribution costs,” Langworthy said. “We get to pick where the money goes.”
Kersheral Jessup, 15, sat among the guests who had arrived for one of the four different varieties of soup. Although still a sophomore at Millikan High School in Long Beach, Jessup took two buses to get to the Interfaith Center after her CAHSEE exam was over.
“I went to my first Souper Bowl a couple of years ago,” said Jessup. “It’s a lot of fun.”
The Interfaith Center managed to raise over $100. All proceeds will be going to the food bank or soup kitchen of the center’s choice.
“Even though there were so many events happening on campus at the same time, I thought the turnout was really great,” Langworthy said. “We hope to build onto what we started this year [in the near future.]”