Chicken Noodle Day!

The Cause

Over the last decade, Soup Sisters has been offering the warmth and comfort that come in a homemade serving of soup to women, children and youth in crisis across Canada and the US. Since 2009, we have delivered over 2.5 million servings of our appropriately-dubbed “hugs in a bowl” to over 40 shelter across nationwide.

It is estimated that "from Kindergarten to grade 12, upwards of 20,000 kids in Calgary go hungry each day." and it is through our work, we have come to understand that in order to thrive in school and in the community, children need to eat well. In association with The Calgary Board of Education Soup Sisters newest grassroots program Chicken Noodle Day is a unique approach to alleviating food insecurity for school-aged children in low-income areas. Underprivileged youth will receive a warm and nutritious meal when they otherwise may not have access to one. The program provides inclusivity and engagement in that it provides the opportunity for students to prepare from scratch and serve a hot and nutritious soup lunch to their entire school. It allows youth to learn to feed themselves and their families hot and healthy food and for the youth to feel successful in their contributions to their family health and well-being. The ripple effect can be felt for generations!

Chicken Noodle Day runs at no cost to the participating school and runs over a period of 2-days throughout the school-year. The first-half consists of the actual soup making encompassing a philanthropic team-building event for young people in grades 5 to 9 where under the guidance of student chefs and Soup Sisters volunteers at one of our partner culinary locations: Lord Shaughnessy or Jack James High Schools. Soup-makers come together in this fun, safe and friendly environment to chop, dice & proudly prepare enough Chicken Noodle soup for their entire school. The following day, the soup is then brought directly from the commercial kitchen to the recipient school where it is warmed and ladled by both students and Soup Sisters volunteers and then served to the entire student-body!

Who Will it Benefit?

Our target demographic benefiting from this initiative is students in Calgary through four-main objectives:
-The Chicken Noodle Day program provides over 400 servings of warm and nutritious soup, prepared by and served to school-aged children from kindergarten to grade 9 in low-income areas in Calgary by their peers each month.
-Young student soup-makers from grades 5 to 9 feel proud and empowered by supporting their friends in a kind and generous way while learning important culinary skills in the kitchen.
-Chicken Noodle Day fosters an atmosphere of teamwork and inclusivity, where no child is singled out for a ‘special’ lunch and the entire student body dines together on this delicious meal made by their peers.
-The culinary student chefs at our partner Technical High Schools benefit from the mentorship of the underprivileged youth and in doing so are making a tangible difference in the community for kids their own age who are less fortunate.