By Darcee Kilsdonk, Executive Director |

ClackCoKids’ 2^nd annual Souper Bowl Supper was held on February 1^st . This event is an important opportunity for ClackCoKids to raise awareness about food insecurity AND how tackling hunger is part of our ongoing mission at ClackCoKids. All the proceeds for this event go to support our community food pantry by supplementing what the Oregon Food Bank is able to provide, typically enhancing the protein sources and culturally specific food to meet the families’ needs, along with non-food items that are sometimes difficult of families to afford like toilet paper, laundry and cleaning supplies, diapers and wipes.  Considering that we doubled our proceeds from last year, Souper Bowl 2025 was a huge success and we could not have done it without our continued community support!

The research is clear when it comes to the importance of nutrition for healthy brain development in the first 1,000 days of life, yet according to the Oregon Hunger Task Force, 10% of children in Clackamas County are food insecure. At ClackCoKids, most enrolled families are living at or below federal poverty guidelines or are reliant on public assistance for additional food support. According to the Journal of Pediatric Health, “failure to optimize brain development early in life appears to have long-term consequences with respect to education, job potential, and adult mental health. These long-term consequences are the ‘ultimate cost to society’ of early life adversity.” For this reason, ‘tackling hunger’ isn’t just a one-time event for us… it’s part of our mission and ongoing commitment to serving our community.

Our agency serves USDA-approved, quality daily breakfast, lunch, and snacks to children in our centers, prioritizing fresh foods and scratch recipes whenever possible. ClackCoKids also provides “Cooking Matters” classes, using a curriculum that teaches families how to create nutritious meals on a budget and also provides each enrolled families with the groceries they need to prepare each class meal at home. This class remains one of our most popular adult education classes to date!

Additionally, we offer a food pantry program at our Barlow Center, open to enrolled families AND the community. In 2024, through our partnership with the Oregon Food Bank, our food pantry supported more than 435 community families and served over 38,585 pounds of food – in addition to special holiday foods and grocery gift cards provided from our 2024 Souper Bowl proceeds.

Because of the generous sponsorship of the Starseed Foundation, all proceeds from our 2025 Souper Bowl Supper will directly support our food pantry and enable us to move forward with opening a second location in the Sandy community in the near future. The 500+ pantry and self-care items donated by generous event guests will be distributed immediately via our next food pantry event in Barlow, and funds donated will again specifically purchase important pantry items such as meat, eggs and other protein sources, as well as culturally specific foods that are not typically provided at the pantry. 

Clackamas County – we cannot thank you enough for how you showed up on February 1st to help us TACKLE HUNGER, and to have such a good time doing it! Please visit the link below to see what photos of our ‘game day’ – and join us in our sincere gratitude to the vendors on the last page that donated bowls, soup and bread, tailgate samples and experiences, and so much more! A special thank you to our Sandy High School Pioneers for their stellar volunteerism – we appreciate you! 

Click here for photos and highlights of our big day.

Save the date for the next Souper Bowl Supper… January 31st, 2026! Want to get in early as a sponsor, tailgater, or soup/bread/bowls donor? Contact us today! email: connect@clackcokids.org

Didn’t make the event but still want to support our pantry? Click here to donate – and write “Souper Bowl” in the comments!

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.