Super Bowl ‘Foodraiser’ started to help hungry residents
-
TRISHA MURPHY/Palatka Daily News – Mimi Alverez of Palatka shows her support of the Kansas City Chiefs ahead of the Super Bowl, during which time people will be collecting money and food to donate to charity.
Area football fanatics might be making their predictions about whether Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers will be a blowout or a dogfight.
Palatka resident Noemi “Mimi” Alverez is ready to throw down the gauntlet in a show of support for her team and the Bread of Life soup kitchen in Palatka.
“I am predicting the score will be 17-7 with the Chiefs winning,” said Alverez, who was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and still has lots of family living there. “I’ve always been a Kansas City fan.”
On the opposite end of the realm is Patrick Turner, head varsity football coach for Palatka Junior-Senior High School.
“I’m predicting the 49ers to win 28-24,” he said. “It’s going to be a dog fight and come down to the wire on who wants it more in the fourth quarter.”
The Central Putnam Ministerial Association is joining the bandwagon, not with a prediction of their own. The group is issuing a challenge to area residents who plan to have fun watching the football game to be charitable through its Souper Bowl “foodraiser” to raise money and supplies for Bread of Life, 320 N. Fifth St.
“We are asking any church, groups or individuals hosting a Super Bowl party to invite their members or guests to bring something to donate,” said Theresa Odom, Bread of Life’s kitchen manager. “We use 50 to 55 cans of vegetables each day feeding those in need.”
Donations are received Monday through Friday from 8:30-10:30 a.m. Other times can be scheduled by calling Odom at 239-919-0516 or Kim Daley at 386-546-3217. Donation pickups are also available.
Bread of Life serves free meals to those in need from 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Items needed include small or large cans of vegetables, canned fruit, fruit cups, and pop-top food or fruit. Other miscellaneous items the Bread of Life can use include fruit snacks, protein or cereal bars, cookies, crackers, individual chips and pudding cups.
The soup kitchen also provides backpacks with food items to those who may not have access to food over the weekend or in the event of bad weather preventing them from showing up to Bread of Life.
Alvarez, who works at HCA Florida Putnam Hospital in Palatka, plans to travel to Detroit, Michigan, to watch the game with her brothers, Pete and David, and more than 60 other family members and friends.
“I bought my ticket to fly to Detroit in October, praying other avenues would not need me here in the city, so that I would be able to celebrate the Super Bowl with them,” she said. “My brother, Pete, actually worked for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1980s after moving there from Detroit. He has held a Super Bowl party for more than 25 years, except, of course, during COVID. When the Chiefs had a losing season, Pete always had a never-give-up enthusiastic attitude. He encouraged me, too, and soon, I became a die-hard fan myself. The party has become a tradition now. Go Chiefs!”
The Super Bowl game is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. EST.
Alvarez said even though she lived in Kansas City for only a month after she was born, she has returned to the area to visit with family and friends.
“My parents were documented immigrants from Mexico and chose Kansas City as their starting place as newlyweds,” she said.
Alvarez is ecstatic about her upcoming trip and believes the Chiefs will win because the roster, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes, is amazing.
“They are a true team of brothers,” she said. “When you watch them play, you just shake your head on how amazing they play. For real, they are unbelievable. I’m super excited.”
Alvarez believes the Souper Bowl foodraiser is a fun way to help people in need.
“This is what we are called to do, to help our fellow brothers,” she said. “I challenge Chiefs fans and the haters to show how much we care by donating food or money. Just do it, no matter what.”
Odom and her volunteers will make an effort to keep track of the number of food items and money donated to Bread of Life by Tuesday to determine which team’s fans had the most donations.
