Susan Pittman of Clayworks at Kilohana cannot believe how fast the year passed.
“It’s that time of the year, again,” Pittman said. “The National Football League Super Bowl LII is already on Feb. 4. That means we will be hosting our 23rd Souper Bowl Sunday to benefit the Lihue Lutheran Church Mobile Munchies.”
The annual fundraiser features a handmade soup bowl, available in traditional, fluted, or a saimin variety with built-in chopstick holders filled with a soup created by Gaylord’s executive chef Mark Sassone, the bowl going home with the diner.
“This is the first time we actually know what chef is going to make,” Pittman said. “Normally, we don’t know what the soup creation is going to be until the week of Souper Bowl. This year, Chef Mark said he’s making Corn Chowder, and he’s rooting for … We also have a new design — a square. People, over the years, have collected the traditional bowl, the fluted bowl, and the saimin variety with built-in chopstick holders. This is a new design.”
Donation is $30 for a bowl filled with soup that can be enjoyed in the studio’s garden area, or taken to go and enjoyed at the Super Bowl football game party.
“One hundred percent of the donation goes to the Mobile Munchies program,” Pittman said. “This is our contribution toward helping feed Kauai’s homeless and keiki.”
Mobile Munchies was started in 2005 by the Lihue Lutheran Church and as of the end of 2017, has served up nearly 200,000 meals.
“We have been with Mobile Munchies since they formed,” Pittman said. “When they started, we did 2,325 sandwiches a year. That has grown to where we finished 2017 serving more than 23,000 sack lunches.”
Prior to working with Mobile Munchies, Pittman said they hosted the Souper Bowl Sunday to benefit first the Salvation Army, then the Kauai Independent Food Bank before hooking up with the Lihue Lutheran Church.
“We enjoy working with the Mobile Munchies,” Pittman said. “We’re all working toward eliminating hunger, and Mobile Munchies makes you feel like you’re part of a group by connecting you with other groups that have the same goal, and even getting to know some of the keiki who benefit from the sack lunch program. It is a more intimate feeling to know you are part of a bigger effort to create a safety net for the island.”
