Beyond the Broth: Stirring up Community Spirit

On Wednesday, February 7, the Danos Foundation’s 2024 SOUPer Bowl brought together three of our favorite passions: food, fellowship and football! This annual event serves as a culinary competition and one of the Danos Foundation’s most popular fundraisers.  

Game Time 

Over 125 employees and guests sampled soups from nine cooking teams, but only one soup reigned as this year’s SOUPer Bowl Champion. Second Harvest Food Bank took People’s Choice and Judge’s Favorite Soup awards with their Crab and Corn Chowder. Second Harvest Food Bank is also a Danos GIVES grant recipient and a Danos WORKS program recipient.  

This year’s event brought in $2,680 to help solve challenges in our communities. A big foundation thank you goes out to our cooking teams for making this event one to remember: Second Harvest Food Bank (Crab and Corn Chowder), Ryan & the Recruiters (Shrimp, Corn and Crab Bisque), Team I & Easy (Chicken and Sausage Gumbo), Souper Troopers (Sis’ Warm Hug Vegetable Soup), Soup-A-Stars (Chicken Fajita Soup), Safeties Swifties (Shrimp Soup), Chefs in Training (Cajun Potato Soup), Gulf Coast Ortho (Shrimp and Corn Soup), Chowder of Champions (Southwest Corn Chowder). 

Not only did cooking teams spend the morning polishing their homemade soup recipes, but they also decorated their tents for this year’s newest award category: Most Spirited Team. It was no surprise that this year’s trophy went to the Safeties Swifties serving up delicious shrimp soup alongside an endless loop of Taylor Swift tunes. 

Winners in Overtime 

After the cookoff, employees were invited to the football festivities in the backyard. Christie Vanacor, Danos buyer, won the football toss competition.

Christie adds, “Not only do we get to enjoy the delicious soups, but we also also get to play games to donate additional funds to such great causes. It's not how much we give but how much love we put into the giving part.”

And then there’s the kick heard around the world…or just the Danos backyard. Chris Wood, Danos financial analyst, took home this year’s Field Goal Kicker GOAT trophy for his 25-yard field goal.

“It's always awesome to have everyone together supporting the Foundation and enjoying some soup while we're at it. Looking forward to defending this field goal trophy next year!” says Chris.  

Post-Game  

The Danos Foundation fundraising committee would like to thank everyone who participated in this year’s event. Because of everyone’s support and enthusiasm, we are making a big impact in our communities and enjoy spending quality time with our coworkers.

“This was my first opportunity to work with the Souper Bowl committee and support the Danos Foundation. The experience opened my eyes to the extensive work that goes on behind the scenes to make this event work so well. I look forward to being on the committee and working with the Danos Foundation again in the future.” says Matt Ferguson, safety administrative assistant.

 “You can’t win together if you don’t work together.” Nick Saban