When the Rotary Club of Naperville hosted its first soup-forward autumn fundraising event seven years ago, the nation was in the throes of an economic downturn. Millions had lost their jobs, or would soon, before the recession was declared over in 2009.
Today, the trio of local agencies that benefit from the annual event, Soup’s On, continue to see abundant need in and around Naperville. Loaves & Fishes Community Services distributes some 30 tons of groceries every week. DuPage PADS provided places for homeless people to sleep more than 44,000 times last year. And Hesed House in Aurora reports having initial contact with a homeless person every 8.5 hours.
The nonprofits still need the proceeds raised at the event, which have come to more than $1 million since 2008, organizers say. But Soup’s On will be held for its final time from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Naperville Central High School.
“We’ve done it for eight years. It’s been very successful,” co-chair Nina Menis said. “We’ve been grateful to the partners and enjoyed it thoroughly. We just thought that next year we’d look at doing something different — but we really don’t know what that will look like yet.”
They know what Soup’s On looks like. With 20 local businesses furnishing food and sponsors providing some $85,000, it looks like collaborative teamwork. Menis said from the high school choir performances to the DuPage Children’s Museum exhibits to the longtime support of My Chef Catering owners Bill and Karen Garlough, the event depends on a wide array of participants and a crew of some 140 volunteers.
More Top Picks Science Of Reading Vs Balanced Literacy What Parents Should Know
“It’s really been a huge community initiative,” she said.
The popular fundraiser, which drew more than 2,000 people last year, replaced the Rotary’s yearly Oktoberfest celebration, a well-attended party that filled a city block in the downtown core for one weekend every autumn for more than a decade and a half.
In addition to eight variations on the soup theme, this year’s menu includes such house specialties as boneless chicken wings from Buffalo Wild Wings, butternut squash ravioli from Maggiano’s Little Italy, pulled pork sliders from My Chef, and pumpkin praline cheesecake cookies from Dark Horse Pastries.
Extra emphasis is being placed on a broader array of dessert items, after those selections drew particularly strong attention last year.
Menis said she brought her mom, Marilyn Caton, to that one.
“She walked in and she said, ‘Oh, I thought it was just soup!'” she said.
Twitter @scarlman