Souper Bowl of Caring At Apostles Lutheran Funds Goats To Fight Hunger

If the Souper Bowl fundraiser at Apostles Lutheran Church is any indication, the Green Bay Packers is the hands-down Greater Brandon favorite to win Super Bowl XLV.

As of  12:14 p.m. on Feb. 6, the steel bowls collecting donations on behalf of the Super Bowl competitors registered $459 for the Green Bay Packers and $264.95 for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

And that adds up to 14 goats — not counting the 16 goats provided for with other donations.

Confused?

Don’t be.

Youth at Apostles Lutheran are participating in the annual Souper Bowl of Caring initiative that nationwide asks schools, churches and other non-profit organizations to host Super Bowl fundraisers for a cause.

In turn, Britta Gundlach and siblings Jake and McKenna Smith volunteered this year to hold the Souper Bowl of Caring Tailgate Party at to benefit their cause for purchasing goats through God’s Global Barnyard.

Through the barnyard effort, a goat can be purchased for $50. The goat is then given to a family living in poverty in some community worldwide.

This is the second year for the Apostles initiative. Last year, eight goats were purchased. This year’s group is on record to more than double that achievement, thanks also to a chocolate day sale held after church Jan. 31.

"We decided to do this when we found out that the Souper Bowl of Caring is an incredible way to fight world hunger," said Michele Van Epps, the church's coordinator of youth. "The nice part about this program is that each organization decides where they want the money to go."

The Apostles youth opted to support God's Global Barnyard, a program of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA).

"It sends farm animals to people living in poverty all over the world," Van Epps said. "We like the idea of not just feeding people but providing them a means to sustain themselves. We're asking to send a pair of goats to each family with the hope that as the goats multiply not just one family is touched but other families in the village as well."

Maggie Gundlach participated in Apostles' 2010 Souper Bowl for Caring.

"I never realized the full impact of the program," she said, noting that in January she attended ELCA World Hunger Leadership Training in Fort Myers. "We learned about different things that affect world hunger and stories about the animals. One of them that sticks out in my memory is that when the goats have offspring the community gets together to decide who needs the goat the most instead of the family just selling it."

This year's team of Souper Bowl fundraisers dished out plenty of hot dogs, bratswurst, chips and fixings.

"I wasn't sure if I had time with homework to do this but it's a lot of fun and it's for a good cause and it's worth it," said Jake Smith, 15, a student at Newsome High School.

"I've had so much fun doing this," added his sister, McKenna Smith, 14, a student at Randall Middle School. "It was fun hanging out with my friends and the goats."

"They get nervous a lot," she added," but goats can be used for so many different needs."

"Apparently, they're adaptable to different climates so they're good for many environments around the world," said Jake Smith.

"And their milk is like cow's milk," Britta Gundlach added. "Their milk is safe to drink and can be turned into butter, cheese and yogurt."

As for this year's results, Van Epps had some good news.

"We got eight goats last year and we set a goal for eight goats this year and we have far exceeded our goals," she said after the Souper Bowl fundraiser.  "So far, here alone, we raised enough money for 14 goats. With chocolate day and other donations, we raised enough money to purchase another 16, or 30 goats total."

"Holy cow!" said Maggie Gundlach, upon hearing the news.

Except, with this evangelical initiative, the giving is in the goats.