Tackling hunger

Sarah Kate Thomas, a senior at Memorial High School, has been volunteering with the Souper Bowl of Caring for the last few Super Bowl seasons.

Earlier this year at your grocery, you may have seen Hunger Bags or been asked to donate to the Houston Food Bank. A few years ago, I didn’t know what a Hunger Bag was. This year, my picture was on the Hunger Bag flyers, posters and billboards that drove awareness of this very real and important cause: hunger.

Hunger is at the root of the Souper Bowl of Caring (SBOC), a national non-profit driven by teenagers that capitalizes on Super Bowl season to give back to local food banks. It began 25 years ago with a youth group in South Carolina and has since grown into a national effort that is currently affiliated with nine NFL teams, including our own Houston Texans.

I became involved three years ago through the Houston Mayor’s Youth Council when I volunteered at grocery stores in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. The more I learned, the more I wanted to be involved. A primary goal of SBOC is to restock food banks after the holidays when supplies typically run low. I felt driven to help, so I applied to the SBOC’s Local Youth Advisory Board.

Serving locally gave me an incredible opportunity to find real ways to help, and I was hooked! Last year I was fortunate to join the National Youth Advisory Board, and that has pretty much changed my life. I met and worked with 13 amazing kids from across the country and our fantastic mentors to shape the current program, both locally and nationally. I ran two neighborhood food drives and collected more than 700 pounds of food for the Houston Food Bank. I also co-organized the First Annual Tackle Hunger Banquet. I am so appreciative for our Memorial neighbors who stepped up to help! I am also very grateful for this opportunity and all that I’ve learned, including teamwork, leadership and the impact a group of kids can have on a serious issue.

I am attending Wake Forest University this fall, and I know that my journey with Souper Bowl of Caring has just begun.

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