High school rivalries are a big topic in Evansville, and a civic group has found a way to cash in on the competition for a good cause.
The Friday Knights Hunger Bowl game at 7 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Reitz Bowl, 309 Dreier Blvd., pits the East Side’s Reitz Memorial High School against the West Side’s Mater Dei High School. Since 2016, Evansville’s Knights of Columbus civic group has turned the annual matchup into a fundraising endeavor. Proceeds from the cross-town game benefit St. Vincent de Paul’s food pantry.
Inspired by two Florida Catholic schools that raised funds for Thanksgiving meals for community members, John Sandwell and Mark Hackert collaborated with their fellow Evansville Knights of Columbus members to bring the idea to the River City.
In its first seven years, Evansville’s Hunger Bowl raised more than $90,000 for the food pantry at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a national Catholic charitable organization with a chapter in Evansville since 1882. The 2023 Hunger Bowl football game, won by Memorial 9-6, raised $25,700. This year’s $30,000 goal would tip overall contributions over the $100,000 mark.
Hunger Bowl organizers say the food pantry often serves more than 100 families each day, with 666,108 pounds of food being distributed in 2023 alone. Purchasing those items for families in need cost St. Vincent de Paul $154,000 last year, which has been exasperated by the rising cost of food and the decrease in food donations.
“We would not be able to operate without the support of so many people, and we are truly grateful to the Knights of Columbus and everyone who has supported the Hunger Bowl,” Sister Donna Marrie Herr, the food pantry’s coordinator, told the Catholic Diocese of Evansville’s newsletter The Message in 2023.
Eleven Knights of Columbus councils across Evansville, Newburgh, and Boonville, Indiana, join forces with Mater Dei and Memorial students, as well as the area’s Catholic grade schools, to raise funds. Attendees at Friday’s Hunger Bowl game can contribute by bringing cash to the game. Can’t make it in person? Donate online at the Hunger Bowl’s website.
As of 2:30 p.m. Sept. 11, the fundraiser had collected $7,860.
