VERO BEACH, FL — Soup is on next Thursday across Indian River County.
The Samaritan Center of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Palm Beach, will hold its 34th annual Soup Bowl fundraiser on Thursday, Nov. 5. Businesses, country clubs, places of worship and community groups will serve soup and offer handcrafted pottery bowls for donations. The money supports homeless families in the county.
“It is a county-wide event,” said Renee Bireley, development manager at the Samaritan Center. She said more than 25 locations are taking part.
The main site is the Vero Beach Heritage Center, 2140 14th Ave., open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. It will offer hot soup, cold soup to go and the largest selection of pottery.
More than 13 area country clubs donated soup for the Heritage Center. Bireley said this year’s offerings include carrot ginger from Vero Beach Country Club, mushroom and thyme and Tuscan white bean from Bent Pine Golf Club, and chicken noodle from Quail Valley.
Other participating locations include the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office auditorium, the Vero Beach Police Department, Community Church of Vero Beach, St. Sebastian Catholic Church, Vero Beach Art Club and Vero Beach Women’s Club.
Indian River Shores will also have a site, hosted by Coldwell Banker. Many of these locations make their own soup or get it from local restaurants.
A full list of locations and what each offers is on the Samaritan Center Soup Bowl Facebook page.
Volunteer artists at Indian River Clay began making the bowls in July. They have produced a little over 1,000 one-of-a-kind pieces.
“The pottery wheels began turning at Indian River Clay,” Bireley said. “They’re one of our partners in this community-wide fundraising event.”
A bowl of soup is a suggested $5 donation. At the Heritage Center, a quart of cold soup to go is $15. A pottery bowl is $20. Bireley said those are minimums.
“We hope you donate more,” she said. “I mean, the soup has always been $5. For 34 years now, I don’t know where else you can go these days to get a bowl of soup for $5.”
Samaritan Center is a transitional residential program for homeless families with dependent children in Indian River County. Families of all faiths are admitted. It is one of Catholic Charities’ 11 core programs in the Diocese of Palm Beach, and the northernmost. The center is also funded by the United Way of Indian River County, the Children’s Services Advisory Council and the Indian River Hospital District.
Bireley said every donation goes directly to the families. It pays for services including intensive case management, a staff mental health therapist and a children’s coordinator.
“We just try to give them everything we can in our tool belt and teach them skills to help them to sustain self-sufficiency once they leave the Samaritan Center,” she said.
“Each year, the Soup Bowl gains momentum and engages the hearts and minds of our community,” Bireley said in a news release. “Your impact on the center — and on our ability to help families in urgent need — is immeasurable.”
She said the event is meant to give residents a simple way to help.
“It’s just a wonderful community-wide fundraiser that everyone in the community can become involved in,” Bireley said. “It’s going to help us to continue our mission of providing hope, dignity and a path forward for independence for our local families. One bowl, one family, one community making a difference.”
For more information, call the Samaritan Center at 772-770-3039 or visit the Samaritan Center Soup Bowl page on Facebook.