25th Great Soup Kitchen
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There’s nothing like a hot bowl of soup on a cold winter’s day.
For the past 25 years, the Tillsonburg News’ Great Soup Kitchen for the Heart & Stroke Foundation has been providing just that every February.
“It’s one of the biggest events that we have for heart month – all of February is heart month and we have events going on all over our territory,” said Jennifer Fraser, area coordinator with the Heart and Stroke Foundation. “The Great Soup Kitchen is one of the largest ones held on our behalf.”
The Heart and Stroke Foundation’s office in Brantford supports the areas of Brant, Haldimand-Norfolk, and Tillsonburg.
Approximately 120 people braved the cold, windy weather Wednesday to support the annual soup and sandwich fundraiser for the Heart and Stroke Foundation at St. Paul’s United Church.
This year’s Great Soup Kitchen raised $800 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
In addition to several different kinds of soups, approximately 30 local businesses and restaurants pitched in to provide everything from plates and cutlery to soup warming pots, cold meats, cheeses, and desserts.
“It’s always a good day for soup,” said Fraser. “A lot of local restaurants are donating their soup today. Tillsonburg is a very generous community, it supports Heart and Stroke quite a bit and this event is indicative of that.”
Fraser noted the important role the Heart and Stroke Foundation plays in people’s lives and in communities across Canada.
“We’ve just launched a campaign called Make Health Last. It’s a continuation of the campaign we had last year about making death wait. All through February we have a lot of events going on – the biggest event we have going on is our door-to-door canvass, so there are people in Tillsonburg right now knocking on your doors, looking for donations. There are other things going on like this event where sites are holding fundraisers. It’s all to support research, health promotion, and advocacy.”
Maintaining good heart health and overall wellbeing is a message the Heart and Stroke Foundation want people to hear.
“This campaign is talking about the last 10 years of your life. You have a choice of being active or not. It’s about making the right choice and we’re here to help inform people so they know who to make the right choice. Investing in your health – we all have a choice to make it the best 10 years we can,” Fraser concluded.