Share’s annual Soup’s On fundraiser arrives at the perfect time. As fall hits the Pacific Northwest, we’re pulling out our sweaters, throwing some logs into the fireplace and craving a warm bowl of soup.
Share’s 10th Anniversary Soup’s On Chef Battle will be virtual for the second year in a row.
“We’re trying to find creative ways to make this fundraiser fun,” said Jessica Lightheart, community relations director at Share.
This nonprofit organization was founded 40 years ago by a group of people who wanted to help the hungry and homeless in Vancouver. Their first project was a shelter for single men providing a daily hot meal. Today the organization includes a variety of programs including shelters, outreach, permanent supportive housing, summer meals and backpack programs for kids, savings programs and hot meals.
During the early years of this event, guests would walk through a soup line at Skyview High School to simulate the experience of the meals eaten by Share’s clients. Years later the event morphed into a chef battle. The fundraiser continues to focus on the meal often served by nonprofit organizations — soup.
This year Share has turned up the heat on this friendly but very competitive event. Every chef competing has won multiple awards in past years. This includes people’s choice (the Golden Ladle), chef’s choice and presenting sponsor’s choice. This year’s chefs are competing for the ultimate people’s choice award: The Copper Stockpot.
“I look forward to this all year,” said Bonnie Brasure of Bleu Door Bakery. “I need that Copper Stockpot to put all my Golden Ladles in.”
Brasure has won two Golden Ladles and one presenting sponsor award. She’s the only woman to win a Golden Ladle. Brasure’s entry this year is chicken wild rice and mushroom soup. Her secret weapon is her mom, Sally Cresmer, who originally devised this recipe from leftovers. Cresmer, a soup master in her own right, will be helping her daughter prepare soup for this competition.
Brasure’s chicken wild rice and mushroom soup faces stiff competition. Her rival soups include: Tuscan chowder with truffle-herb crostini made by Troy Lucio of Gray’s; curried pumpkin bisque from Marian Adams-Manuel of Frontier Public House; Khao Poon Nam Gai (Laotian red curry chicken noodle soup) prepared by Bobby Rasaphangthong of Nom Nom; smoked steelhead chowder with cheddar biscuit crumble cooked by Tim Conklin of Line & Lure; and a Cajun cream of turkey soup offered by Mychal Culver of Beaches Restaurant & Bar.
Tickets for the Soup Sampler for Two cost $100 and include 6 ounces of each of the six soups, two handmade ceramic bowls, a mini loaf of Bleu Door Bakery bread, a program, a link to vote for best soup and a link to Share’s virtual “Spill the Soup” event on Oct. 21. Local potters Pat Brame, Nick Molatore, Honna Sheffield, Majorie Kavanaugh, Jesse Hough and Aubrey Sloan created the ceramic bowls included in this year’s package.
Pickup for the Soup Sampler for Two is from 4-5:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Joseph’s Catholic School, 6500 Highland Drive. At the soup pickup, Share is also hosting a towel drive. For every bath towel donated, participants receive one entry in a drawing to win a $250 Dutch Bros gift card.
For those seeking a bit of wine and dessert to go with all that soup, Share has five Soup-er Samplers. The Soup-er Sampler includes everything in the regular Soup Sampler for Two plus a homemade pie made by Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle and a bottle of premium wine from the cellar of David Nierenberg. On Thursday, McEnerny-Ogle and Share staff deliver everything to your door. Online bidding for these souped-up soup packages is open today through Tuesday at Share’s website. A silent auction of other items including a Bend trip package and day passes to Disneyland will be online from Oct. 11-22.
Also on Thursday, the chefs will join staff from this year’s presenting sponsor, Davidson & Associates Insurance, at Bleu Door Bakery to taste the soup and vote for their favorites. At the same time, participants at home vote for their favorite soup online.
The virtual event, Spill The Soup, begins at 6 p.m. Oct. 21. Tickets are $25 for those who don’t want the Soup Sampler but want to watch from home. At Spill the Soup, Share announces the winner of the coveted Copper Stockpot (aka the Oscars of soup) as well as chef’s choice and presenting sponsor’s choice. The event also includes presentations for Volunteer of the Year award and Community Partner awards as well as a drawing for the winning raffle ticket for two round-trip tickets on Alaska Airlines.
Tickets can be purchased now through the event website. The website also provides details about raffles, the silent auction, tickets, mystery boxes and everything else related to this event.
Rachel Pinsky: couveeats@gmail.com
