Soup for the Soul

Here in North Central Pennsylvania, we are so blessed to have an amazing food bank that works hard to provide food to soup kitchens, shelters and distribution agencies around the region. The Central PA Food Bank is a run by an inspired team of individuals whose primary concern is the nutrition and well-being of those less-fortunate in our communities.

This past week, Mary Peck and I had the opportunity to attend the 6th Annual Soup & a Bowl event at the historic Gennetti Hotel here in Williamsport. This event benefits the food bank and serves as their primary fundraiser for the year. We  were glad we reserved seats early, as both sittings sold out shortly after we ordered our tickets!

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Balloons, beads and centerpieces were all in the traditional green, purple and yellow of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Tom Wetzel provided beautiful entertainment on the grand piano, and even treated us to my personal  favorite, Lara's Theme from Dr. Zhivago!

Upon our arrival, we were escorted through a line of beautiful, hand thrown pottery, made locally and donated for the event. Mary and I chose matching blue bowls, that are absolutely amazing!


After we chose our bowls, we worked our way through a buffet of soup choices, loaded baked potato to mushroom and spicy tomato bisque, it was delicious. You had the option of choosing a bread bowl, which I did and was not one bit sorry to have done so! It was perfect food for a dreary rainy day in Williamsport.

While we were enjoying our lunch, we watched students from Williamsport Area high School throw pottery on a wheel beside our table. It really makes you realize how important the arts is to these kids, watching the passion in their eyes as they worked.

While we really enjoyed ourselves, what was most moving was the knowledge that our ticket cost was going to support a very much needed service in our community

I would recommend this event to anyone, but more so, I would recommend volunteering or donating to the food bank!