WHILE NATIONAL FOOTBALL League (NFL) fans are eagerly awaiting this year’s Super Bowl LX to be held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Feb. 8, hundreds rushed to Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Westminster for another much-anticipated event: The annual Pho Souper Bowl weekend.
VOLUNTEERS HELP IN THE KITCHEN DURING THE PHO SOUPER BOWL AT BLESSED SACRAMENT IN WESTMINSTER. PHOTOS BY ALAN WENDELL/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
According to Blessed Sacrament Coordinator of Confirmation & Youth Ministry Connor Ho, “The Pho Souper Bowl is a play on words for the Super Bowl — a time when everyone gathers together around food, family and friends, in the spirit of one goal.”
Pho, pronounced as “fuh,” is a traditional Vietnamese soup made of broth, rice noodles (bánh phở), herbs and meat — usually beef (phở bò) or chicken (phở gà).
“For us, the Souper Bowl is all about gathering the parish community with the goal of supporting our Faith Formation programs and spending time together over a warm bowl of Pho,” said Ho.
PARENT VOLUNTEERS STAFF THE WAFFLE STATION.
Event coordinators estimate that over 4,000 bowls of Pho were served during the two-day festival held Jan. 17–18.
The Pho Souper Bowl is the result of a team of over 300 volunteers working together to make the event a success.
Confirmation and Youth Ministry is the front-of-house staff that help to greet and serve the guests.
PARENT VOLUNTEERS MADIE VU AND EVELINE HONG SERVE FRUIT SMOOTHIES.
Sr. Vi Houng, LHC, coordinator of Vietnamese Faith Formation along with the Vietnamese community help to coordinate kitchen operations and donations, which are vital to the fundraiser. They help to make sure that operating costs are kept low and that the parish community knows and is involved in all event processes.
The Vietnamese Teresa Group (Nhóm Teresa) & Vietnamese Catholic Mothers Association (Hội Bà Mẹ Công Giáo) help with the food prep — noodles, veggies, and meats—they prep it all for service and cooking.
Vietnamese Children’s Faith Formation parents help with the desserts — making waffles, prepping ice cream and fruits.
“I myself served at the Souper Bowl when I was in seventh and eighth grade here at Blessed Sacrament,” Ho added. “Back then, it was used to support the Catholic School — now its purpose is to support Faith Formation programming.”
He added, “Proceeds from Souper Bowl also allow Faith Formation to expand its programs and also use the funds to provide volunteers with formation opportunities (such as sending Young Adults to the SEEK conference hosted by FOCUS) and also provide financial aid for families in need at our parish.”
Souper Bowl is funded in large by donations from local businesses around Westminster and Garden Grove. These include: Phoholic, Pho 2 To, Quoc Viet, Hot Vit Lon Long An, Bun Ban Mai, and Cho Tam Bien.
“We are also grateful for the donations from individual donors who supported us monetarily, allowing us to buy materials for our fundraiser and ease our upfront cost,” said Ho.
Blessed Sacrament Parish Administrator Fr. Anthony Hien Vu stressed that the event is much more than a great way to raise funds for parish Faith Formation (FF) programs.
“It offers our FF children, volunteers and other groups in the parish an opportunity to work together and to be of service to the whole community,” said Fr. Vu.