Chili Cook-Off Helps


Feed the Hungry A night of fellowship provides snack bags for local children and food for others


BY KATHY SCHMIED


The All-Church Chili/Soup Cook-Off attracted over 150 members and friends of all ages to the warmth of FPCA on the cold Friday night of February 3. The mixer had everyone up on their feet finding out who picks carrots out of their soup, who eats chili but not chili beans, and who is a slurper (we’ll never tell!).


Surrounded by plentiful, healthy, and delicious homemade soups, chilies, salads, fresh breads, and colorful cupcakes, we were reminded how blessed we are as we watched a brief, moving video highlighting the plight of hungry children among us. Lest we forget as we sampled from 49 soups and chilies lining the walls of Fellowship Hall, we gazed up tables piled with 4,500 donations that were collected to fill snack bags for local children.


Eagle Scout candidate Nathan Luey solicited specific food products so that we could assemble 140 weekend snack bags for food-insecure youth attending Harrison Morton Middle School in Allentown. Nathan reminded us that 20 percent of children in Allentown experience food hardship.


Troughout the Lehigh Valley area, there are children who may not


Eagle Scout candidate Nathan Luey organized materials to provide snack packs for Allentown middle-school children who experience food hardship.


have access to nutritious meals from lunchtime Friday until they return to school and have breakfast on Monday. Te snack bags we prepared will help fill that gap by providing easy-to-prepare, kid-friendly food for the weekend.


With over $1,000 in monetary donations, Nathan will purchase additional bags and arrange for a Youth Fellowship event to assemble bags that will be distributed to sustain schoolchildren over their spring break. Remaining funds will be used to continue the project into the future.


It wouldn’t be a Cook-Off without a contest! While a “conga line” of assemblers filled bags, organizers worked to tally the results of Cook-Off voting. Our voters had a tough time deciding which soups deserved to be awarded the “Most Colorful,” “Soup Tat Makes Me Happy,” and “Loveliest


Legume,” and which chilies qualified as “Wish I Could Take Tis Home,” “Call the Fire Department,” and “Poultry Paradise” entries. When all was said and done, we agreed that all entries were indeed winners!


As we wrapped up the enjoyable evening, contributors were invited to take their leftovers home or spoon them into freezer containers for the Deacon’s Caring Shelf. Final tally: 30 quarts of soups and chilies filled the freezer, and the veggie centerpieces were delivered to Daybreak on Monday for their clients.


It was a blessing to connect with old friends, make new friends, share laughs, play table football, slurp soups, and wash down spicy chilies. We also made a difference in the lives of others, and that was the true blessing.


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