In the winter of 2023, Chris Hyde of Olympia, Washington, said he felt “borderline depressed.” He had recently retired, felt isolated at home, and the dark Pacific Northwest days didn’t help.
So, he started cooking soup.
“I really had what felt like an epiphany to me,” he told KOMO News last year. “It was this kind of full-body tingling feeling with the idea … it was almost otherworldly.”
The idea?
“Giving soup away for free to your community is going to really do something,” he said.
So, he started a nonprofit: Souper Sunday.
It works like this: Members of a Souper Sunday Facebook group (currently consisting of 5,900 people) post that a meal is available and what the request window is. People respond to the post with their request, essentially calling dibs on a serving of soup.
Once a recipient is confirmed, they coordinate with the soup maker to pick up their meal.
Hyde himself makes about 25 to 35 portions of soup every day, five days a week, and other community members also contribute to the group. It’s grown so much that there are 11 total Souper Sunday Facebook groups in cities across Washington, California, and Montana.
They all run on their own volunteer power, but the mission is the same.
“We believe in ‘the sacred circle of giving and receiving’, in which accepting a meal is as important as making a meal. We could not do this if no one showed up,” Hyde writes in the description of the original group.
“And the acceptance of a meal encourages one to be involved and to contribute ingredients and time thus benefiting other community members and it goes full circle. Neighbor helping neighbor.”
One of the core principles of Souper Sunday is that free meals are available to anyone for any reason. They don’t have to meet certain criteria, and no questions are asked.
“There are countless situations where community members can benefit from a free meal,” Hyde writes. “Consider a single parent who is exhausted after a long day, or a neighbor recovering from sickness or injury, artists and musicians trying to improve the creative efficacy of our community, students trying to better themselves, hard workers who make too much to qualify for SNAP benefits but whose bills don't leave any money for food.”
That last point has even inspired Hyde to start another nonprofit: The Food Source Foundation, which distributes food and groceries to people who often make too much to qualify for government assistance like SNAP benefits, but still struggle to afford groceries.
According to Thurston Talk, 44% of food-insecure households in Thurston County, where Hyde lives, don’t meet the income level to receive SNAP support, but they still can’t afford their regular grocery bill.
And with precarious funding following the federal government shutdown, hungry bellies are becoming even more common.
“As the group developed, I began to see a need above and beyond soup,” Hyde wrote on The Food Source Foundation’s website.
“I began distributing free groceries to food-insecure neighbors. I was surprised at how many of the people coming to me for food support were fully employed. They have been priced out of their basic needs by high rent, a car payment, insurance, and basic bills. A large number of hard-working community members literally had no money left for food after the most basic bills [were] paid.”
So, his new (and second) nonprofit works to fill gaps in local food distribution in Olympia and surrounding areas.
“At The Food Source Foundation, we believe that access to nourishing food is a basic human right — not a privilege,” Hyde shared. “Our mission is to ensure that everyone — regardless of income, housing status, or employment — has equitable access to healthy, wholesome food.”
Actually, there is one caveat.
“As long as you’re, you know, a fairly nice person,” Hyde said in a recent social media post, you’re welcome to the free food.
In fact, Souper Sunday — and all that has followed it — stems from an intrinsic belief that no matter who you are or what your values are, you deserve a warm, nutritious meal.
“The act of making and sharing food is a time-tested way to connect people,” Hyde writes. “It transcends the powers that work to divide us.”
Those interested in supporting Souper Sunday or The Food Source Foundation can donate online or look into starting a group of their own.
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Header image by Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash
