The Interact Club at Moorestown High School will host its 23rd annual Soup for the Soul at the Community House of Moorestown on Feb. 11.
All proceeds will benefit Philabundance, a nonprofit dedicated to ending hunger and food insecurity. Local restaurants donate soup and bread for an all-you-can-eat, buffet-style meal, and there will be live music, a silent auction and other activities throughout the day.
The event was held last year for the first time in two years post-COVID, and Tim Hurley, advisor for the Interact Club, is always proud to see students take the lead on the fundraiser, especially after missing out for so long.
“Taking those two years off, (that’s) not how it works, and the younger freshmen and sophomores didn’t really know what the event was at all,’’ he explained. “So now that everyone saw it last year, everyone has much more ownership of it this year.”
The Interact Club’s Soup for the Soul committee has four sub-groups, with two or three student members on each. The groups are soup and bread donations, fundraising and raffle and publicity committees. Hurley believes the experience of older and younger students working together is teaching students how to communicate formally to adults, whether by phone, email or in person.
“The communication piece is huge, because you need to explain who you are, where you’re coming from, why they should be giving money in the first place,” he said of student responsibilities on each sub-committee.
Hurley believes the event is an opportunity for family, friends and neighbors to get together for a good cause at a location that is a staple in the township.
“Moving it last year to the Community House, I think, was a great move,” he noted. “ … People in Moorestown know where that is; it’s a local landmark, so it’s easy to get there and people know how to get there and it’s a comfort to people in the town.”
Keyan Vojdani, senior chair and organizer of Soup for the Soul, reflected on Moorestown coming together for the event.
“It’s good to see this, because students are involved, there’s high-school Interact members who volunteer and there’s businesses who donate,” he pointed out. “There’s those who sponsor, there’s the people who are so committed to these causes who come to the event, who come to donate to Philabundance …
“It’s really interesting.”
Soup for the Soul will begin at 11 a.m. Tickets will be sold at the door or in advance at $10 for adults and $7 for seniors and children. With a $10 takeout option, residents can receive a container of their favorite soup, as well as two pieces of bread.
