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Soup Sisters keeping soup flowing through pandemic

December 23, 2021   ·   0 Comments

By Sam Odrowski

The Orangeville/Dufferin Soup Sisters have been working behind the scenes since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to continue supporting the women and children of Family Transition Place with soup, despite the stoppage of their in-person events.

Using money fundraised by the 39 branches of the Soup Sisters across Canada, soup has been mass produced in a factory setting, before being frozen and shipped off to the many women’s shelters Soup Sisters was supporting prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as Family Transition Place (FTP).

“The founder, who’s incredibly generous, put her thinking cap on when COVID first hit… so what she did was, she went out to a factory setting and created four different soups from the [Soup Sisters] recipe book. It was a big task because they have to get the right ingredients to make it preserve itself. It’s then flash frozen and has been shipped across Canada all throughout COVID,” said Lori Robertshaw, who coordinates Orangeville/Dufferin Soup Sisters with Terry Doel and Vanessa Kreuzer.

Robertshaw said they pick up the frozen soups in Milton and just recently dropped off 300 lbs to FTP.

In addition to utilizing funds raised in the past, Soup Sisters National held online cooking classes over Zoom with celebrity chefs to bring more revenue into the organization during the pandemic, offsetting the overhead costs of mass producing and distributing the frozen soup.

“It’s so important because the shelters [need the soup] more than ever, with people being locked at home, during lockdown, there was a real rise in abuse in the family, domestic abuse,” said Robertshaw.  

How the program worked prior to the pandemic, was the local branch of Soup Sisters would host eight in-person events at Le Finnis or Lavender Blue Catering per year, where all the attendees are fed a dinner, before doing some cooking themselves.

“Together we make the soup. We strap on an apron and we roll up our sleeves, and we start cooking,” Robertshaw said. “It’s chef facilitated, Terry Doel is the chef at Le Finis and so she would do a little cooking tutorial.”

“So, it’s a cooking class, and you’re giving back to community, while enjoying that dinner out,” she added.

Robertshaw calls it “dinner out with a purpose” since all of the soup cooked by attendees gets donated to Family Transition Place (FTP).

She highlighted the positive impact that the soup has on the women and children who receive it.

“We are supporting, nurturing, creating hugs in a bowl for women and children and youth in crisis,” said Robertshaw. “The soup is for those who are fleeing from abuse, and seek shelter at a woman’s shelter across Canada. If they have a nice warm bowl of soup that’s made from community members, with caring hands and lots of love stirred into the pot, then it’s nothing but comfort.”

“It’s giving them some hope, and it’s definitely nutritious,” she added.

A speaker from FTP would come out to the events as well, educating attendees on the services they provide.

Janice Snow and Madysyn Curry, who are food and nutrition specialists at FTP noted the effect Soup Sisters has had on the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Prior to the pandemic we would engage the clients in our shelter kitchen and create a culture that was open and safe for the clients to heal and learn new skills in. They say the heart of the home is always the kitchen, we whole heartily agree,” they said. “Sadly, with the restrictions, we have had to change and modify how we interact with the families staying with us. With all the restrictions it hasn’t been easy! The Soup Sisters has become a staple on our daily menu allowing us to provide healthy homemade nutritional meals that clients can enjoy and feel good about.”

Adding, “Although there is no more cooking together in our shelter kitchen (for now) there is nothing more comforting than knowing that we can provide a nice bowl of soup with their meals that someone has made with love and warmth. Providing healthy and nutritious meals to our client is very important to us, we know how much energy it takes to re-write your life and go forth with bravery and courage.”

FTP has also been able to help offsite clients as well, through the Soup sisters frozen soup donations.

“Having the soups ready for us, we are able to create care packages for our staff to take to those they serve in the community,” noted Snow and Curry.

Robertshaw said the Soup Sisters program was very well received since its local launch in 2017, quickly selling out for all the events it ran in its first two years.

She added that they also use to host “pop up soup kitchens” where people would celebrate a birthday by inviting 20 of their friends and family members to make soup.

“It was a whole thing; we would have birthday cake. I mean, how wonderful of a way to spend time with people that you love,” Robertshaw noted. “It’s like-minded individuals coming together… it’s so much fun, we have singing and dancing. It’s a big kitchen party, it’s not just about making soup.”

A unique aspect of the local branch of the Soup Sisters is that its culinary partners also run the program. Terry Doel and Vanessa Kreuzer of Le Finis and Lavender Blue Catering are coordinators for Orangeville/Dufferin Soup Sisters with Robertshaw but also have the space and culinary expertise to hold the events. Robertshaw said the local Soup Sisters chapter is the only one in all of Canada that does it this way.

In other areas, the organizers have to book a restaurants space and hire a chef, which is much more costly.

While FTP is the main organization the local chapter of the Soup Sisters supports, Choices Youth Shelter, Orangeville Food Bank, and the Lighthouse, which provides meals to homeless or less fortunate individuals, have received soup in the past as well.

There’s a variety of types of soups that get made with ones that are vegan and culturally sensitive, so there’s something for everyone.

Looking ahead, there’s some good news with respect to the return to in-person events for the Orangeville/Dufferin Soup sisters.

Soup Sisters National has invited the chapters to run events independently in 2022.

Robertshaw said locally there are plans to resume the in-person events, perhaps at the end of January, if it’s safe to do so.

“Now is not the time to stop. If there’s ever been a time, now is not the time to stop helping people, supporting people,” she noted.

To learn more about the local branch of the Soup Sisters or donate to the organization, visit: soupsisters.org/orange.php

“We’re so grateful for everybody’s support, and we really are looking forward to a new year, where hopefully we won’t have to rely on the frozen stuff and can go back to using our aprons,” said Robertshaw. “We’re so looking forward to that”

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