Like the Super Bowl itself perhaps, it began with a prayer: “Lord, even as we enjoy the Super Bowl football game, help us be mindful of those who are without a bowl of soup to eat.”

It was first spoken in 1990 by a guy named Brad Smith, then still a seminary intern at Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in Columbia, S.C.

Inspired by Smith’s prayer, the church’s high school kids used the fun and excitement of Super Bowl weekend for a greater good—to collect money and canned food for the needy.

Now, I’m not a religious guy, but you can’t ignore results like these.

That first year, the kids convinced 22 Columbia-area churches to participate, raising $5,700 for local nonprofits. The next year, the project went statewide and by 1993 there were Souper Bowl collections in 36 states.

By 1997, the Souper Bowl of Caring, now a full-fledged nonprofit, raised its first $1 million.

“The food collected in the community stays in the community,” says Souper Bowl VP of Communications Tracy Bender. “One hundred percent of the dollars raised on Super Bowl week goes to local food banks and charities.”

That means unlike many national charities, the Souper Bowl of Caring does not take a cut of donations to cover costs. Administration and other expenses are paid for by separate private donations.

To date, the Souper Bowl of Caring has raised more than $41 million dollars and is active in all 50 states. Their national advisers include several NFL team owners and former Presidents Bush and Carter. And their most effective marketing tool? Local television.

“TV stations really are our best opportunity to get the word out,” Bender says. “Local stations can help schools and businesses get the general public involved.”

Bender estimates that 30 or more stations actively supported the project leading up to yesterday’s game. Nowhere is that success more evident than in Texas.

“In Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin and Houston, the local television stations teamed up with all the major grocery store chains,” says Bender. “In Houston alone, they conducted simultaneous drives in about 200 stores. The TV stations all worked together.”

The Houston stations even collaborated on an ambitious PSA. Production was coordinated by Gary Wann, the creative services director at Post-Newsweek’s KPRC.

“A team of representatives from each television station met to create the concept for the PSA,” says Wann. “The spot contrasts people snacking at a Super Bowl party with the anchor’s voice citing statistics that describe the striking need to feed the hungry. For example, ‘33,000 people go to bed hungry every night in Houston.’”

Production tasks were divided among participating stations, which came together for one shoot day.

“The front end of the spots are identical,” explains Wann. “The tail end is customized to feature each station’s anchor or anchors on camera in a kitchen setting, surrounded by a group of kids involved in the 2008 collections.”

To showcase as many kids as possible, the group changed each time they shot a different anchor.

This is the second year for the city-wide Souper Bowl promotion in Houston, an idea which originated with competing supermarket chains Kroger, Randalls and H-E-B. They approached station managers and the Houston Chronicle.

“The local grocers make it easy to participate,” says Wann. “They pre-package bags of food which shoppers can purchase at the register.”

Although Houston’s official 2008 goal is “two million pounds of food,” these checkout purchases are symbolic. Food banks receive the cash value of each purchase, allowing them to stretch donations even further through bulk purchases and extra discounts.

Like the other stations, KPRC ran the Souper Bowl campaign from Jan. 10 through yesterday’s game.

“We also support the campaign with special stories on our newscasts,” says Wann. “We try to show all the ways that schools and church groups are helping. And last Wednesday we ran a kind of mini-telethon, we did cut-ins every half hour to ask people for donations. We raised over $16,000 for the event.”

The Houston stations have already signed on for next year.

The Houston group effort is an exception. Most participating Souper Bowl stations prefer to take advantage of the organizations pre-produced PSAs and other promotional tools such as posters and t-shirts.

Not surprisingly, every station back in Columbia, S.C., where it all began, takes an active part in the Souper Bowl of Caring, which is a rich source of local pride.

Barrington Broadcasting’s WACH showcases the campaign in all dayparts, including Good Day, the Fox affiliate’s new morning show.

Recently Good Day co-anchor Caroline Love interviewed Tracy Bender to promote the station’s collection activities.  “We frequently report on the numbers coming in, both on the air and on our Web site, so local groups can track how much they’re raising,” says Love.

Love is a native of the South Carolina Midlands and a 2006 honors graduate of the University of South Carolina. I was curious whether Love’s studies emphasized broadcasting obligations for public service.

“I’m not sure young TV professionals do understand the public service commitment, especially with all the recent changes in television and the ones coming next year,” Love says.

“But being a medium-size market, we really do have close contact with our viewers,” adds Love. “Just this morning I was emceeing an event for our chamber of commerce where the business community honored local teachers. It’s amazing how many people come up to me to tell me they saw my story on teen smoking and how helpful it was with their own kids or with their students.”

That’s why projects like the Souper Bowl of Caring can be an eye-opening experience for younger staffers, says Love. “You see firsthand how your work impacts people. Each time we report totals, more viewers call in asking how to get involved, so we refer them to the souperbowl.org Web site.”

Visitors can donate year-round on the site.

Market Share by Arthur Greenwald showcases successful local marketing, promotion and sales efforts every Monday in TVNEWSDAY. Tell us about your winning efforts by writing to Arthur at greenwald@tvnewsday.com.