Holy Family, local restaurants partner to serve soup, help local non-profits with 3rd Annual Soup du Jour

This March, area organizations working to serve those in need will benefit from a bowl of soup and a heaping helping of the community’s generosity when Holy Family Catholic Community’s Soup du Jour returns.

On Saturday, March 2, Holy Family will sell a wide range of delicious soups donated by Fond du Lac area restaurants to benefit the Holyland Food Pantry and Holy Family Warming Shelter. Based in Marytown, Holyland Food Pantry provides supplemental and emergency food to people in need in the Holyland, as well as refers people to additional resources. The Holy Family Warming Shelter opened in November 2023 and every night through April provides warmth, safety, and food to single adults experiencing homelessness in the community.

Since 2021, Soup du Jour has raised more than $10,000 in donations for local nonprofits. Other signs of the fundraiser’s success? Last year, hundreds of servings of soup sold out within an hour, and many of contributing restaurants have returned year after year. This year, more than twenty restaurants have donated soup to support the cause—an all-time high for the event. Participating restaurants, as of February 15, include: A&W Restaurant, Annie’s Catering, Avenue 795, Bob’s on the Avenue, Boda’s Restaurant & Catering, Brick House, Downtown Deli, Market, Café, Faros Restaurant & Cocktails, Fat Joe’s Burgers and Brew, Friar Tuck’s, Gilles Frozen Custard, Hotel Retlaw | Table One Restaurant, Oasis Family Restaurant, Red Cabin at Green Acres, Rolling Meadows Restaurant, Salty’s Seafood & Spirits, The Stretch Restaurant, The Diner, The Hive, The Sweet & Salty Pig, Top Shelf Sports Bar & Grille, and Tucker’s Hamburgers.

The fundraiser will also feature soups made by the Holy Family Pastoral Council & Human Concerns Commission, Holy Family Hispanic Ministry, and Holy Family Staff. Elaine Graf and the associates of First Weber Realtors will also donate a soup from Downtown Deli, Market, Café.

“With so many restaurants generously contributing, Soup du Jour is a one-stop shop for your favorite local soups,” Holy Family Director of Human Concerns Erin Cobb said. “It’s a win-win for everyone. People get to do good and purchase great soups, while restaurants get to share their delicious food with people who may have never eaten with them before.”

Soups will go on sale at 1:00 pm on Saturday, March 2 at Holy Family Church, 271 Fourth Street Way. Buyers are asked to come to the south side of church by the canopy entrance, enter the drive-up line, and wait in their cars for volunteers to take and deliver their orders. All soups will be available on a first come, first served basis for $6 a cup or three cups for $15. People are invited to follow Holy Family’s social media accounts, Holy Family Catholic Community FDL on Facebook and @hffdl on Instagram, as well as to visit their website, hffdl.org, for the announcement of the menu in the coming weeks.

Any restaurants interested in donating soup to the fundraiser are invited to contact Holy Family Catholic Community at (920) 921-0580.

“The popularity of Soup du Jour is not just a testament to the high-quality restaurants we have here in Fond du Lac, but the huge heart of our community. Every year, restaurants step forward to donate gallons of soup for the simple purpose of helping their neighbors. That is incredible and we are so grateful for the support of our local businesses and residents,” Cobb said.