Photo: Dustin Godfrey
Discovery House is beginning its annual Lent Lunch Soup fundraiser in March, with soup, a bun and a hot drink available for $5.
The annual fundraiser generally goes toward the building fund, but this year it will likely be going to beds for the new spot on Winnipeg Street.
While Discovery House does get some funding, including through donors, there is typically a shortfall of about $630 per month per client, which adds up to about $90,000 per year.
“All of our fundraising efforts this year are pretty much going to beds,” Discovery House executive director Jerome Abraham said.
“We’re actually looking for sponsors – we have a few potential bed sponsors, but we’re probably still looking at trying to find sponsors for six to eight beds.”
The fundraiser has grown from about 30-40 people to over 100 attending each day, with people often coming back each year.
Clients who live at Discovery House go through a food and nutrition program, so some of the soups would be made by them, while Abraham will also be making a spicy peanut stew.
“We get donations from our supporters; the Wheatgrass Cafe is actually putting in some soups this year,” Abraham said.
Discovery House gets a fair bit of support from the Catholic Church, which is part of why they are doing a fundraiser around Lent – the six weeks leading up to Easter, during which Catholics give up something in their lives that may be difficult to give up.
“Our kind of jokes are that you don’t have to suffer to participate in Lent because our soups are so good that you won’t notice there’s not meat in any them,” Abraham said.
The fundraiser will be held every Friday in March from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John Vianney.
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