Souper Bowl Success Story

By Brenda Lentsch

Students at North Ridge Primary School in Commack held their fifth annual “Souper Bowl” and collected a whopping 9,430 cans and bags of soup. “This is absolutely incredible,” Loretta Sehlmeyer told the children. Loretta is a volunteer from Island Harvest. “There are many children who go to bed hungry and don’t have enough food to eat. You are making a difference in their lives.”

The “Souper Bowl” is run by physical education teacher, Lorraine Esposito. Each year, she “sculpts” the cans into different shapes. This year, she created a giant train complete with tracks,nicknamed the “Chicken Noodle Express.” Mrs. Esposito remarked, “Each day when the children came to gym, they were amazed at how well the sculpture was beginning to take shape and this motivated them to bring in more and more soup.”

Assisted by coworker and physical education teacher Pat Hoover, Mrs. Esposito boxed up the soup, which was  picked up by Island Harvest volunteers. Long Island’s largest hunger relief organization, Island Harvest Food Bank provides food and non-food items for people who are hungry and in need, giving them a voice to help the transition from uncertainty to stability. Island Harvest’s mission is to end hunger and reduce food waste on Long Island through efficient food and product collection and distribution systems; enhanced hunger awareness and nutrition education programs, job training, targeted services for specific populations, and outreach and advocacy activities and initiatives. Island Harvest is the region’s lead agency in emergency response readiness for food and product distribution and support and is a member of Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity. For more information visit www.islandharvest.org<http://www.islandharvest.org>.

Congratulations to Mrs. Sherman’s class (photo) who won the “Souper Bowl” by donating the most soup of any other class in the school. They were treated to an extra day of “Safety City” play time during gym class. And many thanks to the caring people in the Commack community who contributed to the most successful Souper Bowl ever!

Adults in photo, from left to right: Loretta Sehlmeyer from Island Harvest, PE teacher Pat Hoover, North Ridge Principal Katherine Rihm, and PE teacher Lorraine Esposito.