Your Name: Samantha Cayton
Your Group: Bonner Elementary
Location: Houston , TX
Years Participated: 5
First Year: 2008
This Year: Collected $2,000 for Community Family Centers, Collected $562 for Southeast Area Ministries
How did you hear of Souper Bowl of Caring?
I was introduced to the Souper Bowl of Caring through television advertisements and seeing the large red Souper Bowl of Caring barrels that are located in various local stores.
Why did you choose to join the Souper Bowl of Caring team?
The annual Souper Bowl of Caring food drive allows our students to work on a worthwhile project that enhances our ability to show caring and compassion.
What does your group do to participate in the Souper Bowl of Caring movement?
We ask for all caring individuals in the Bonner community to donate food items that will help those who are in need. We highlight that hunger is something that we all can help to end by working together.
What have you found is most successful for raising cash and food items?
We have been most successful in our food drive by working together as a team and Bonner Elementary has the strength of over 1,000 students and faculty.
Was there any particularly meaningful or moving story from your collection you would like to share?
A constant refrain from our students revolves around the happiness that comes from helping others. Our students realize that by working together we can all share in the joy of giving. For example, as our students loaded food into a van, one student said, "helping others really makes me feel good".
Tell us a little about where you donate your collection to.
We donate to various organizations in southeast Houston.
Are there any resources you feel Souper Bowl of Caring could develop to enhance your collection?
I would like to see more opportunities for elementary school students to have greater involvement in the leadership area of our food drives.
What does participating in Souper Bowl of Caring mean to your group?
I believe this is a great opportunity for our students to learn more about compassion and caring.
What does it mean to you?
Every year I am amazed and filled with joy as our students participate in the food drive. We ask that each student bring in two non-perishable food items and every year, without fail, our students donate food to end hunger. The need to end hunger is no longer an abstract problem but concerns the people in the neighborhood where the students live. The students can see for themselves the effect of their actions.
