Hours before the country’s biggest football game, volunteers and congregation members at Heritage Baptist Church in Annapolis were already slurping down 60 gallons of soup.
The church’s annual SOUPer Bowl lunch drew a crowd of more than 200 hungry local residents — many from the city’s recovery community — and raised $2,400 for Light House, a homeless prevention center in Annapolis, said coordinator Lea Hurt.
The church has partnered with Light House for 13 years to provide hearty food on Super Bowl Sunday, while raising money for Light House.
“It’s a great event, especially for someone like me who has been in a position like that before,” Daniel McVicker said about the people Light House has served for more than 25 years. The 31-year-old said he’s been sober for five months.
The SOUPer Bowl has grown from a tiny gathering of congregation members to a community-wide event. Zachary Pope, a congregation member and veteran professional chef, said the idea came in 2005. He was inspired by his grandmother, who used to say, “Baptists, we meet and we eat.”
“The Light House shelter used be really small,” Pope said. The facility has since expanded, but that didn’t stop Heritage Baptist Church from hosting the game day lunch.
“They still need our help,” Pope said.
Culinary graduates from Light Houses’ Building Employment Success Training program, also known as BEST, were on hand to serve soup, salad, bread and cake.
As more people filed into the church’s dining area, Dreama Powell-Smith, 45, retreated to the kitchen to prepare salads. The mother of four was addicted to crack before finding treatment at Chrysalis House. The women’s addiction treatment center is a Light House partner.
After treatment, Powell-Smith enrolled in the BEST program.
“I believe it’s made my life 1,000 times better,” Powell-Smith said. February represents 30 months of sobriety for Powell-Smith, who also has four grandchildren.
Over the course of 12 weeks, students in the culinary training program learn knife skills, cooking methods and sanitation techniques, said Linda Vogler, executive chef and director of culinary arts at Light House. They graduate with the certification they need to work in restaurants, grocery store delis or hospitals. Vogler estimates 325 adults have completed the program since 2011.
Liz Fleury, 33, was hired at Light House after she graduated from the BEST program. Like Powell-Smith, her journey to sobriety started at Chrysalis House in Crownsville.
“Chrysalis has given me my recovery, but Light House gave me my life back,” Fleury said.
The SOUPer Bowl was attended by church congregation members and non-members, alike. The event was free to the public, but many stuffed a donation bowl with whatever cash they had.
“As long as I’m in Annapolis and I’m able, I will do this,” Chef Pope said about the SOUPer Bowl lunch. “I want (people) to think about the Super Bowl and say, I know this thing will be happening, too.”
