United Church DE holds “Souper” food drive

February 22, 2017

While Super Bowl Sunday was a super day for the New England Patriots, it was also a banner day for the Food Bank of Delaware and the 117,900 residents served through our network of hunger-relief partners.

A Souper Bowl food drive held Sunday, Feb. 5 at United Church DE in Dover netted 9,675 pounds of food . . .  almost 5 tons!

One of the church’s leaders, Pastor Mark Tennefoss, is not at all surprised.

“We have a group of people who love to serve, and we go big,” he said.

United Church DE hosts two services at Dover High School each Sunday; it’s a relatively new church dating back to Sept. 18, 2015. The church has ties with Calvary Wesleyan Church in Harrington where Pastor Kenneth Wagner and Pastor Tennefoss have roots. United DE’s first service, held in the Schwartz Center in Dover, drew 500 people, and the congregation moved to the high school a year later.

For the Souper Bowl drive, Pastor Wagner issued the challenge to the congregation, provided tote bags, and people responded.

“Part of our mission is to help Delaware, so they didn’t look at it as having to go out and buy extra food. It is an opportunity to make an impact in Delaware,” said Pastor Tennefoss.

The first food drive will not be the last; United Church DE will hold another later this year. The date has not been determined.

“We will probably do it twice a year,” he said.

Our network of community partners, all 575 of them, and the people they serve are very grateful to the congregation of United Church DE.

For more information on how to host a food drive or to support the Food Bank of Delaware, visit www.fbd.org.