Souper Bowl bus arrives in Sharon

Shenango Valley teens will collect cash and food, and volunteer at the local food bank.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
SHARON, Pa. -- As one Bus left the Keystone State for Detroit, another arrived in Sharon.
Tailback Jerome "The Bus" Bettis and the rest of the Pittsburgh Steelers left Monday for Detroit to prepare for Sunday's Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the planned efforts of a group of young people to reduce hunger in the Shenango Valley brought Steeler alumnus Jon Kolb and the Souper Bowl of Caring bus to Sharon First United Methodist Church.
The tailgate party in the church parking lot was in part an early celebration of the Steelers' upcoming date with the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday in Super Bowl XL. More importantly, it was the kickoff event for Shenango Valley teenagers' participation in service projects that will benefit Community Food Warehouse, the Shenango Valley's food bank network.
"It's very sad that people in our community go hungry," said Paige Covert of Hickory High School in Hermitage. "We have to help them because we want to make this a good community."
Amy Lynn Delfratte, First United Methodist's director of Christian education and youth minister of Christ Lutheran of Sharon, and other youth leaders mobilized the Shenango Valley Youth Network to participate in Souper Bowl of Caring. Shenango Valley Youth Network is made up of the youth groups of 125 area churches.
Delfratte said teenagers will collect cash and canned goods from their local church congregations and in the community, and also volunteer at Community Food Warehouse.
Former player
Kolb, an offensive lineman, was a third-round draft pick of the Steelers and played from 1969 to 1981. He was a member of the Steelers' four Super Bowl Champion teams.
Although the words extremist and fundamentalist today are usually related to terrorism and are "scary words in a scary world," Kolb noted, Coach Chuck Knoll told the teams during his days as a Steeler that they had to "be radical and extreme" in their efforts if they expected to win.
He told the participating teenagers they would be even more radical and extreme -- in a cause more important -- than that of past or current Steeler Super Bowl teams.
"If we can help people and make sure they have food, that will be one less thing they have to worry about," said Erin Puko of Farrell High School.
Deirdre Moore of Sharon High School said Shenango Valley teenagers can make a difference when they all work toward a common goal.
"We're a small community, but the bus stopped here," she said. "We want to show them that even though we're small, we can do a lot."
National event
The Souper Bowl of Caring national event coordinators are already convinced of that. When Delfratte requested 60 Souper Bowl of Caring press packets, the event public relations staff noticed.
The bus tour was not supposed to stop in Sharon on its way to Detroit, only in large cities with National Football League teams including Pittsburgh and Cleveland. When Danielle Haugh, a Souper Bowl public relations coordinator heard the plans Delfratte had for caring projects, she called a quick staff meeting and added Sharon to the tour list.
The bus tour began Jan. 15 in Miami, and will end Friday in Detroit. The Souper Bowl of Caring Web site is www.souperbowl.org.
tullis@vindy.com