Teens help to cook up a Souper Bowl
By Diane C. Beaudoin Journal Correspondent 
There's the Super Bowl, then there's the Souper Bowl, and one group of Ashburnham students is pushing for souper to equal super.

The youth group from The People's Congregational Church, which is comprised of only three members, is working to feed the hungry as they collect cans of soup and hold a Souper Bowl on February 3 at the Gardner Community Outreach Center. Julia Ham, one of the 17-year old members, said the group likes to "outreach to the community and help the needy, especially in the cold weather."

Ham, along with members Gabriella Aho and Haley Marshall, under the direction of Pastor Dan Allen, are combining their efforts with other local youth groups in the area to bring home a success. "We are collecting other nonperishables too," Ham said.

She added the group has also done clothing drives, bringing the clothes to Boston to help out the people in need in the big city.

Aho said the group strives to help out in any way they can, and doing community service is one good way to get the job done.

"I just love doing community service work, and even though our youth group is down to only three of us, we are small but we like to do big things," she said.

Aho said a meeting later on this week will be held to finish up with the planning of the event.

"This is an ongoing process, this holding a Souper Bowl started years ago somewhere in the country, and we decided to jump on board," Allen said.

Other local churches that will be participating are St. Anne's and St. Dennis in Ashburnham.

"There are probably seven or eight churches between Ashburnham, Gardner and Westminster that are participating," he noted.

Allen said the idea for Souper Bowl was sparked by the high cost of ads placed during the big game.

"The major companies spend millions on ads, and someone came up with, Why should they be the only ones profiting from Super Bowl? That's how it all got started, the poorer people should benefit too," he said.

The pastor said the event has also taken on a life of its own.

"The youth group is very excited about doing this," he said. The Souper Bowl is considered a "Super Bowl of caring," Allen said. "It's a golden opportunity to help people out."