TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)– Hundreds of people lined up inside Maryland Community Church Saturday for the return of a popular annual fundraiser.
Catholic Charities partnered with a number of local organizations for the 14th annual “Soup Bowl” benefit. Tickets were sold out for the event– and Jessica Murphy, the development manager for the organization, said seeing all the community support for the event was heartwarming.
“This is the second year we’ve sold out since coming back in person from COVID, and we’re very excited,” she said. “Those food insecurity numbers, of course, are not as high as we saw during its peak in COVID, but things like inflation and utility costs right now, in the winter, overall just an increase in spending, we are seeing those numbers of food insecure neighbors starting to tick back up.”
Murphy said one ticket to Saturday’s event provided up to 120 meals for those around the area. On top of giving back to the community, those on hand got to try a variety of different soups from Terre Haute restaurants– and had a chance to get a handcrafted bowl from a local artist. Murphy said the social aspect of this benefit has helped its popularity.
“It’s a fun event. We have 19 different soups from restaurants all across Terre Haute, we have live music,” she said. “It’s a social event because you’re sitting at tables with some people you know and maybe some people you don’t know. It’s fun, it’s social.”
Murphy thanked all the volunteers who helped make this event a reality.
