PORTLAND — Young people at several central and mid-coast Maine Catholic parishies helped collect nearly $15,000 in the Maine Catholic Diocese “Souper Bowl of Caring” event the weekend of Feb. 3 and 4.
Money was collected for local soup kitchens, food banks and food pantries by youth ministry groups at parishes throughout the diocese, who held soup pots to collect monetary and food donations from parishioners as they left weekend Mass.
All of what was collected went to local charities to help tackle hunger in the community.
In total, the youth collected nearly $15,000 and hundreds of food items.
At Augusta’s St. Michael Parish, youth ministry members collected nearly $3,100 and food items from parishioners leaving weekend Mass at each of the parish’s churches (St. Mary of the Assumption Church, Augusta; St. Augustine Church, Augusta; St. Joseph Church, Gardiner; Sacred Heart Church, Hallowell; St. Denis Church, Whitefield; St. Francis Xavier Church, Winthrop). The proceeds are going to local soup kitchens, food pantries and shelters.
At All Saints Parish in Brunswick, a collection after all weekend Masses in each of the parish’s churches (St. Mary Church, Bath; Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, Boothbay Harbor; St. Charles Borromeo Church, Brunswick; St. John the Baptist Church, Brunswick; St. Patrick Church, Newcastle; St. Ambrose Church, Richmond) produced nearly $2,700 and hundreds of non-perishable food items. All donations will go to area food pantries and the Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program in Brunswick.
At Holy Savior Parish in Rumford, youth ministry members collected non-perishable food items and monetary donations at each door following weekend Masses at St. Athanasius and St. John Church in Rumford and Our Lady of the Snows Church in Bethel. The donations totaled nearly $1,100 and will go to several local food pantries.
Since its inception in 1990, churches across America have raised more than $100 million for soup kitchens, food pantries, and other charities through the Souper Bowl of Caring. In 2018, nearly 5,000 charities across the country benefited from the collection.
