Soup's On serves up a hearty helping of compassion

A steaming hot bowl of soup is one of the ultimate comfort foods, a one-dish meal that hits the mark as the days get shorter and the weather turns colder.

So on the first really cold day of November, it seemed appropriate that hundreds of people gladly paid $10 to sample not one, but 25 varieties of soup at the third annual Soup's On fundraiser for The Gathering Place, North Bay's only soup kitchen.

“We like that it links what we do on a daily basis, which is serve up fresh, healthy food, including soup. It’s just a nice little fundraiser,” said Dennis Chippa, Executive Director of The Gathering Place.

"I think the set-up was perfect and it was a really good day for it. It's really cold outside, so a great day for soup. A very good turnout for a really great cause," said Bill Ferguson.

"I tried all of them. I really liked the soup from Shoeless Joe's. It was a kind of a potato bacon. You can't go wrong with bacon."

Based on personal experience, Carol Jodouin shared a valuable tip for those attending for the first time.

"You've got to make sure that you have a very empty stomach because there's just so much there to taste," laughed Jodouin. "They're all good, but my favourite was the Barclay House wild mushroom and rice with tarragon.

She also took advantage of the cupcake sale for dessert later on.

"These are from SugarDaddy's. They're really yummy. So I gave in to temptation in many ways today."

Which is understandable. With seven delicious flavours available for people to sink their teeth into, SugarDaddy Cupcakes and Catering sold around 300 cupcakes.

"We have salted caramel, lemon raspberry, eggnog, red velvet, smores, toasted coconut, and a gluten free vegan option as well," said co-owner Nathan Serran. "We love doing charity events and this is a great cause. We didn't expect this kind of turnout, so I think we're going to raise a lot of money today."

The event lends itself to some good natured competition between the restaurants, retirement homes and secondary schools as they showcase their culinary skills in the quest for soup supremacy.

“There are two awards, one is for commercial, the other is non-commercial. It allows the commercial restaurants to win the Golden Ladle as the people’s choice, and then the non-commercial can also win. That was the real surprise for us last year, as Widdifield high school continues to win it. Their culinary arts program is pretty amazing,” explained Chippa.

This year the Widdifield Wildcats entered two groups,

Johann Wehrstedt, Ethan Sauve and Katherine Lowder served up a Mexican fiesta style soup. They are part of a volunteer, extra-curricular program at the school called Cats in the Kitchen.

"It's a healthy eating lunch program for at-risk kids, and this is our hospitality group over here," points out teacher Samara Paleczny. "So we're competing against each other this year. Last year Mrs. Cazabon's hospitality class won.'

Last year Soup's On event raised $6,000 for The Gathering Place.

“Money raised goes into our operational budget, so it goes into buying groceries and heat, hydro, all the stuff that it takes to make this place run,” said the Executive Director.

Any money raised is important, as the soup kitchen braces for an expensive year.

The traditional number drop-off after summer did not happen. In fact, it was just the opposite for what is now being described as ‘the new normal.’

“If you look at our stats from last year, we are probably seeing anywhere from 15 to 25 more people a day. Yesterday we had 104 at lunch, normally at this time of the month, for November, the number would be around 85. That’s consistent now.” said Chippa.

Then there’s breakfast and dinners to consider as the soup kitchen works on its budget.

“The new people represent all ages. We’ve seen some more seniors, we’ve seen an increase in the 16 to 25 age group, and we’re seeing a few more kids coming in than we used to, they’re all new faces. And interestingly, we’re seeing more couples come in, which is a new dynamic.”

Chippa says they’re also preparing for the possibility that more college students will rely on their help.

“We’re anticipating that through December. We want to make sure that college and university students are aware that we’re here. It’s a non-judgemental, safe environment for them. We think it is a good healthy meal for them, they’re on the bus routes anyway, come in and have something to eat. And that may be why we’re seeing the increase in that age group, we may be seeing them because they’re not in class.”

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