High schools kick off annual ‘Souper Bowl’ food drive

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — Community Food Basket Idaho Falls (CFBIF) is excited to once again partner with Skyline and Idaho Falls High Schools to launch The Souper Bowl, a friendly competition to fight food insecurity.

The Souper Bowl is an annual tradition that has been going on for nearly two decades and brings two rival high schools together for a good cause – feeding those in need in the greater Idaho Falls Community.

Each school collects canned food items and monetary donations through personal and business donations along with local drives to benefit Community Food Basket Idaho Falls.

The Souper Bowl will take place January 24 - February 4, 2022, and will feature several food drives including:

Skyline High School Students will be at the following locations:

• Broulims in Ammon: Jan 21-22 and Jan 28-29
• Albertsons on Broadway: Jan 21-22 and Jan 28-29

Idaho Falls High School Students will be at the 17th Street Albertsons Jan 21-22 and Jan 28-29.

“The Souper Bowl is a lifesaving event in our community,” CFBIF Executive Director Ariel Jackson said. “Especially as we’re experiencing unprecedented need, the Souper Bowl ensures that our warehouse is stocked during harsher weather when local families rely upon emergency food resources to keep their household fed. We’re incredibly grateful for the hard work of the students, staff, and school administration who support this event year."

Both the students running the Souper Bowl and Community Food Basket Idaho Falls are in desperate need of standard size potato boxes with a top and bottom. This is the method in which the students collect and store the food and the method in which CFBIF gives emergency food portions to those in need. The Souper Bowl needs 1,000 complete boxes and CFBIF needs three pallets of potato box tops and three pallets of potato box bottoms. The students need to have the boxes in-hand by January 20 and CFBIF needs them in-hand by early February.

Community Food Basket’s 5-day per week food distribution program has become a staple of our community as the need for food has risen significantly during the past two years. Formerly known as the Idaho Falls Community Food Bank, this organization began in 1980 as a community effort among several churches to meet the emergency needs of their church members. Today, CFBIF works to meet the emergency food needs of families and individuals facing foodinsecurity in the greater Idaho Falls area and is feeding up to 2,000 local families per month.

You can learn more at www.FeedIdahoFalls.org.

GoFundMe fundraisers have been set up for both schools specifically designed for The Souper Bowl.

You can view Skyline High School's HERE.

You can view IF High School's HERE.