Holy Family Parish in Fond du Lac will host its Soup du Jour fundraiser on Feb. 18. (Submitted photo)
It’s officially “soup season” in Wisconsin, when the low temperatures, high snowdrifts, short sunlight hours and long weeks until spring have most people yearning for a good steaming bowl of comfort.
So, there’s no better time for Holy Family Parish in Fond du Lac to hold its popular “Sour du Jour” fundraiser, where local restaurants collaborate with the parish to raise money and whet appetites.
Slated for Saturday, Feb. 18, Soup du Jour benefits St. Katharine Drexel Shelter and Holyland Food Pantry. The event will be held from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Holy Family Church, 271 Fourth Street Way.
Soup du Jour was first hosted by the parish in 2021. Hundreds of servings sell out each year, and last year more than $4,000 was raised and split evenly between the two charities. Erin Cobb, Holy Family Catholic Community director of human concerns, attributes the popularity of the event to “the yummy soups and (the opportunity to) help someone else.”
“It’s a win-win,” she said.
“We have great restaurants in Fond du Lac, and to be able to get a selection of soups from so many in a way creates a one-stop shop for people to pick up their favorites, and get to try some that they may not have otherwise,” said Sarah Razner, director of communions and marketing for Holy Family.
All soups will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. The price is $4 per soup, or $10 for three soups. Any soup remaining after 3:30 p.m. will be sold following the 4 p.m. Mass at Holy Family Church.
Fourteen restaurant-made soups will be available. The Holy Family staff and leadership groups also will make two kinds.
“Soups that are unique, but not so unique that (attendees) don’t know what it is, are generally pretty popular,” said Cobb. “I know the St. Patty soup from Top Shelf and the seafood chowder from Salty’s were big hits in previous years.”
“It is hard to narrow down a popular soup from throughout the years, as we sell out of all of them,” said Razner. “I have had the opportunity to try a few over the years, including chicken pot pie from Pamela’s, white chicken chili from Brick House, and beef and vegetable tenderloin from Top Shelf, and they were all amazing. I have never been disappointed.”
For more information, visit hffdl.org or facebook.com/HolyFamilyFdL. Businesses interested in donating soup to the fundraiser are invited to contact Holy Family Catholic Community Director of Human Concerns Erin Cobb at 920-921-0580, ext. 301, or at ecobb@hffdl.org.