Soup Sisters Keep The Soup Flowing – Emergency Program

The Cause

With the onset of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic, Soup Sisters immediately followed the recommendations of the Canadian Public Health Agency and cancelled our community soup making events beginning in March 2020.

This immediate change to our programming did not deter us from fulfilling our mandate of providing a 'hug in a bowl' to women, children and youth in crisis across Canada. We know that during these unprecedented times the comfort and message of support that comes through our soup is needed now more than ever. Through our "Keep the Soup Flowing" emergency initiative, we collaborated with a commercial food safe production facility; and began producing our trusted Soup Sisters recipes on a larger scale in order to continue our monthly donation to shelters nationally supported through our standard programming as well as to the AB Food Bank, homeless shelters and seniors residences, and frontline workers.

Partnering with Versa Cold Transport, since March we have arranged delivery of 15,640 pounds of soup to First Nations, Shelters across Canada with 8,340 lbs delivered to 24 shelters in Alberta alone as well as the Stony Plain First Nation Health Agency, all helping to address food insecurity in our province's most vulnerable populations. Should funding be secured, we hope to sustain this method of soup delivery until we are able to return to our regular programming of soup-making events.

Who Will it Benefit?

Since social distancing guidelines have been implemented nationally, Soup Sisters has donated healthy, flash frozen soup to 21 shelters and agencies serving vulnerable populations in Calgary and Southern Alberta. Having recently partnered with Alberta Food Banks since the onset of the pandemic, Soup Sisters was also able to donate over 2,000Lbs of soup to be distributed in emergency food hampers to Alberta's vulnerable population during these unprecedented times.

We have surveyed our recipient agencies who all strongly verify the need for healthy food during these difficult times. Our ‘keep the soup flowing’ emergency plan is a resource needed to provide nutrition and well being to thousands of their clients in need throughout Alberta.

The following partner shelters/agencies are regular recipients of our soups through our monthly programming and have continued to receive soup donations since our programming changes.
Highbanks Society (Calgary)
Discovery House (Calgary)
The Doorway (Calgary)
Brenda Strafford Centre (Calgary)
Inn From The Cold (Calgary)
Awo Taan Healing Lodge (Calgary)
Calgary Women's Emergency Shelter (Calgary)
YWCA Mary Dover House (Calgary)
Rowan House (High River AB.)
Wood's Homes (Lethbridge)
YWCA Harbour House (Lethbridge)
Blackfoot Family Lodge (Lethbridge)

**Additionally, with the onset of COVID-19, we've included the following provincial agencies to those listed above in our emergency food relief program:

Kerby Centre
Calgary Homeless Foundation
The Calgary Dream Centre
Jessica Mortel Memorial Foundation
Ogden Community
Aventa
Stoney National Public Health Agency
Alcove Recovery
Jewish Family Services