Minnesota Prairie Roots

AS I WRITE, the Super Bowl is playing out on the television screen in the next room. I could care less.

But I do care about the Soup Per Bowl Sunday that played out this morning in a south metro church. I was there attending a pancake breakfast fundraiser for kids going to summer camp. That includes my young granddaughter.

After a hearty breakfast of pancakes with blueberry sauce, cheesy hash browns and sausages, I headed to the narthex on my way to the 10:30 a.m. worship service at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Lakeville. Just outside the sanctuary, I spotted a large collection of filled grocery bags. Turns out this was this faith community’s version of the Super Bowl.

At St. John’s, it was a Soup Per Bowl of Kindness, according to associate pastor Nathan Lyke. And that kindness came in grocery bags filled with cans of soup, spaghetti, peanut butter, cereal, granola bars, flour, hot chocolate mix, toothpaste, personal hygiene products and much more. A generous outpouring of donations for a designated food shelf.

All across Minnesota, faith communities, individuals and nonprofits are stepping up to feed others, as noted in the day’s Old Testament reading from Isaiah 58, specifically verse seven, “to share your bread with the hungry.”

I personally know of people who are donating money and food, collecting monetary donations from family and friends, buying groceries and/or delivering food to food shelves for bagging and distribution to people sheltering in their homes because of ICE. I know of people proxy-shopping at local food shelves and then taking groceries to people sheltering in their homes because of ICE. I know of local churches collecting food and delivering to people sheltering in their homes because of ICE.

This story is repeating through community after community in my state. I’ve never been more proud to be a Minnesotan, to live in a place where we take care of each other, where Super Bowl Sunday means much more than a football game.

© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling