New Jersey students compete in "SOUPer Bowl" food drive against two Kansas City schools
Near the endzone in the lobby of Johnson Elementary in Cherry Hill, students spent part of Friday counting cans of soup and filling bags full of canned goods.
"Everyone has so much spirit and energy," said Jaxson Cygler, a fifth grader at Johnson Elementary.
The young Eagles fans are hoping to win on Sunday, and win what their principal has dubbed, the "SOUPer Bowl."
"I think it's really fun because we get to interact and we get to challenge other people," said Ian Black, a student at the school.
Once the Eagles won the NFC Championship, the Principal, Jared Peltzman, and the PTA challenged the students to a canned soup drive. They encouraged kids to bring the donations into school, which will then be donated to a local food pantry.
Johnson Elementary held the same challenge two years ago, the last time the Birds were in the Super Bowl.
"The kids are really excited about it, the families are really excited about it, so we have parents dropping them off and it's just been way more than I ever expected," Peltzman said.
The challenge was also extended to two schools in the suburbs of Kansas City. The students are pitted against each other to see who can collect the most canned goods.
"The principal of the school that loses has to wear the other team's colors or jersey during the Super Bowl. So we will be sending some pics back and forth," Peltzman said.
The schools have also sent videos back and forth this week having some fun ahead of a Birds and Chiefs rematch. Win or lose, all three schools say the competition is helping their communities.
"It's about who we can help, so whoever wins it's a win overall," Cygler said.
The competition closed on Friday afternoon. Johnson Elementary did not win, but students helped collect more than 3,600 cans of food.
"We want them to leave today proud of the fact they raised a lot of food for people that are in need," Peltzman said.
