{"id":121921,"date":"2023-08-29T05:19:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T09:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=121921"},"modified":"2023-08-29T05:19:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T09:19:00","slug":"new-bethany-to-host-32nd-annual-souper-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=121921","title":{"rendered":"New Bethany to Host 32nd Annual Souper Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Funds raised at the soup and salad luncheon will support and serve those affected by homelessness, food insecurity, and poverty in the Lehigh Valley.<\/em><\/p>\n

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – August 28, 2023<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0New Bethany<\/a>\u00a0will hold its 32nd annual Souper Day on Friday, September 22nd, 2023, at 11 a.m. at\u00a0ArtsQuest<\/a>\u00a0in Bethlehem. Proceeds from the event will support New Bethany\u2019s efforts to serve those affected by housing, food insecurity, and poverty in the region.<\/p>\n

Souper Day 2023 follows a notably impactful time for Pennsylvania residents: SNAP benefits were reduced in February, and New Bethany served a record-high 151 lunches from its Southside Drop-in Center on May 26, which is an 80% increase over the same day in 2022. New Bethany\u2019s Choice Food Pantry has seen a 77% increase in households seeking access to groceries between April 2022 and 2023, and Trinity Kitchen has seen a 15% increase over the same period.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince SNAP benefits were reduced in February, we have seen a consistent increase in the number of people seeking food assistance,\u201d said Marc Rittle, executive director of New Bethany. \u201cNew Bethany has expanded our nutritious food access program to meet this need, but none of our programs would be possible without the support of our dedicated donors and volunteers. Due to the success of last year\u2019s Souper Day, we were able to offer street-level human services to nearly 2,000 people and housing assistance to 929 households. I\u2019m excited to see the impact this year\u2019s event has on the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s luncheon will feature keynote speaker Gwen Didden, executive director of\u00a0Berks County<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Northampton County Housing Authorities<\/a>, and Kelly A. Chando, director of development at\u00a0St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network<\/a>, who will serve as Master of Ceremonies. Event attendees can expect to hear from New Bethany\u2019s clients and staff about the organization\u2019s progress this past year and its future goals.<\/p>\n

Sponsorship opportunities are available to help New Bethany build a community of hope for those in need.<\/p>\n

Registration is required by September 14, 2023. For more information, sponsor opportunities, and event registration, please visit\u00a0https:\/\/newbethanyministries.org\/event\/32nd-annual-souper-day-event\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

About New Bethany<\/strong><\/p>\n

New Bethany offers hope and support to neighbors who experience poverty, food insecurity, and homelessness. They believe that all people, regardless of circumstances, should be treated with dignity and care without judgment. No one who seeks help is turned away. New Bethany meets people where they are by offering wraparound services designed to remove barriers and assist individuals and families in reaching self-sufficiency. It starts with a meal and other street-level human services, including showers, laundry services, mailing address, and access to their Choice Food Pantry, and continues with housing assistance, job search support and tools, and case management. To learn more about New Bethany, find them on Facebook and Twitter @NewBethMin, or visit them on the web at\u00a0www.newbethany.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Information provided to TVL by:
\nAmiee Goldy
\nhttp:\/\/www.socialTmarketing.com\/<\/a>
\n <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Funds raised at the soup and salad luncheon will support and serve those affected by homelessness, food insecurity, and poverty in the Lehigh Valley. BETHLEHEM, Pa. – August 28, 2023\u00a0–\u00a0New … Continue reading New Bethany to Host 32nd Annual Souper Day<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121922,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/souper-2023.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121921"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=121921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/121922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=121921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=121921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=121921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}