Morris Area Public Library adds flair to Souper Bowl of Caring

MORRIS – The Morris Area Public Library is participating in We Care of Grundy County’s Souper Bowl of Caring fundraiser. This year, the librarians have added a new element to generate interest in the fundraiser.

Rose Nowak, Teen Services coordinator and web master, created a display in the front of the library to promote the fundraiser, as well as to highlight cooking and food-related books for library patrons. Keeping with the theme of the soup kettle, Nowak created three-dimensional salt and pepper shakers and a soup spoon she placed around the fundraising kettle.

The library has included a free recipe for “Winter Warmup Crock Pot Soup” as part of the display. Patrons to the library are encouraged to take the recipe home with them.

“My intent with this display is to highlight the Souper Bowl of Caring and to try and raise more money for We Care and our community,” Nowak said. “We are a part of the community, so we take part in the community.”

The Souper Bowl of Caring is a national movement that began on Super Bowl Sunday in 1988. Since then, communities across the country have collected more than $41 million through the Souper Bowl of Caring to feed the hungry through local charities.

We Care of Grundy County has been participating in the Souper Bowl since 2009. The funds raised until the Super Bowl will be used by We Care to help Grundy residents in need.

Last year, more than $6,000 was collected to help We Care provide food to thousands of Grundy County residents through mobile food pantries and office pantry visits.

This year, the fundraiser highlights We Care’s expanded food pantry service for its inclusion of all towns in Grundy County.

All participating organizations will be entered in a contest to win the Souper Bowl of Caring trophy for Grundy County. There will be a trophy for the business and for the youth organization or school that raises the most money for the Souper Bowl of Caring. We Care encourages participants to be creative with the fundraiser, like the Morris Area Public Library, which has used its display to help bring awareness to the Souper Bowl and create a spirit of fun and friendly competition among the participants.

If you would like to participate in the Souper Bowl of Caring, please contact Eric at 815-942-6389, ext 4.

We Care is a local nonprofit agency that provides emergency assistance to Grundy County residents in the form of food, rent, utility and prescription assistance.

We Care is a United Way partner agency and is funded primarily by private donations.