Skip to main content

Souper Bowl raises funds for Habitat for Humanity

January 28, 2009

The UW-Madison Chapter of Habitat for Humanity would like you to begin your Super Bowl celebrations on Saturday, Jan. 31 — a day before Sunday’s big event for football fans.

The Souper Bowl includes a handmade bowl to take home.

Souper Bowl XIII, an evening of food, art and entertainment, will be held at Madison West High School, 30 Ash St., from 3–8 p.m. to raise money for Habitat for Humanity. Last year, organizers hoped to raise $20,000. After five hours of ladling soup and dishing up sides and desserts, they took in $25,000. They hope to raise the same amount this year.

Here’s how it works: Attendees select a handmade bowl to take home for $15, and then enjoy a meal of soup, bread, salad and dessert. A family ticket costs $35 and comes with the choice of two bowls and four meals.

The ceramic bowls for sale are made and donated by potters in the Madison area, as well as ceramics students from Madison-area high schools.

Larger and more decorative bowls will be sold in a silent Pro Bowl auction, including the bowl of bowls, the “Souper Bowl.” This stunning granddaddy created by local artist Mitch Sigmund will be available through a raffle. Raffle tickets will be sold at the event. If you can’t attend the event in person you can still participate in the auction. Check out all the special bowls for sale and place a bid online.

Most of the food for Souper Bowl is donated by local restaurants, including Potbelly Sandwich Works, Panera Bread Co., the Food Fight Group and others.

The evening includes entertainment from the UW Marching Band, Tangled Up in Blue, the Socialites and Jimmy Linville. Attendees can also enjoy some star sightings, well, local celebrities: Wisconsin’s First Lady Jessica Doyle, Bret Bielema, Kathleen Falk, TV personalities and, of course, Bucky Badger, will all stop by.

The UW-Madison chapter of Habitat for Humanity was formed in 1993. The group is currently working on its ninth student-built house on Madison’s southeast side and chapter members are there every Saturday to build a home for a local family. This chapter is among a small group of college chapters nationwide to fund and build a house each year. The group earned Campus Chapter of the Year honors for 2005–06 by Habitat International — the first to receive this award.

Some 42 chapter members spent a week during winter break building homes for Habitat for Humanity on Alabama’s Gulf Coast and in Taos, N.M. The chapter also co-sponsors events, such as a recent panel on the problems of affordable housing and homelessness in Dane County.