MARGATE – The school community turned out in force Sunday for some slurping good eats all to benefit those who are food insecure.
Students at the Eugene A. Tighe Middle School served up hot soups to hundreds of supporters seeking to raise funds for World Central Kitchen, an organization that feeds people displaced by war or natural disasters; the FoodBank of New Jersey Southern Branch; and A Meaningful Purpose, a local charity that operates an organic farm in Egg Harbor Township.
K-8 art teacher Barbara Farrell of Linwood has been working on the Empty Bowls "SOUP’er Bowl for Hunger” event since the start of school in September. The districtwide service project was not only designed to educate students about the power of kindness and empathy, but also to hone their skills in pottery making.
“The children started making clay bowls in class and we fired them in our kilns,” Farrell said.
Parents joined their children for evening bowl-making classes held Tuesdays and Thursdays until the holidays, she said.
“It was a wonderful experience to see people sitting at a table with no devices making something with their hands,” Farrell said.
In all, the students and adults made 250 clay bowls that were painted and glazed with bright colors. Each person who attended the soup’er supper got to take one home. Teacher Jessica Cuevas, who was unable to attend due to illness, helped to make the bowls with the students.
“We may run out,” Farrell said an hour into the three-hour soup tasting event. “I work with an amazing staff of professionals who all showed up to hang out today.”
Hundreds of supporters packed the cafeteria, which was lined with tables featuring soups made by local restauranteurs and families. Several tables offered soups made by the middle school’s Nutrition Class, and another featured soups containing vegetables grown by students in the elementary school’s Garden Club.
In all, there were 24 different soups available for tasting – five prepared by families, four made by students and the remainder from local eateries.
Superintendent Ryan Gaskill and Ross School Principal Bonnie Marino distributed packets basil and parsley grown, harvested and dried by elementary school students, the perfect topper for some of the delicious soups being kept hot in crock pots.
The fundraiser was a success before it even started, Farrell said.
“We started with $2,500 graciously donated leading up to today, and we are hoping to get to our $5,000 goal before the end of today,” she said.
Although football season was just starting when Farrell started the months-long project, the event was made extra special because the Downbeach area’s home team, the Philadelphia Eagles, made it all the way to the Super Bowl, Farrell said.
“I timed it perfectly with the bye week before the big game,” she said.
Elizabeth Lowry who has two children attending the middle school – Jonathan in eighth grade and Amelia in seventh grade – featured her homemade pasta fagioli. The secret to keeping the pasta from “puffing up” is to add it to the tomato-based soup just before serving, she said. Although the contents were vegan friendly, she offered a grating of Parmesan cheese for those who like a little sprinkling on top.
Fourth-grader Meg Southard, who made two pottery bowls for the event, said she had several tastings and liked the chicken noodle soup from Bocca Coal Fired Bistro the best.
She said she would borrow $1 from her dad to be eligible to vote for it in the Best Soup contest.
Her mom, Bernadette Southard, said she went to the school one evening with friends to make bowls for the event.
“I didn’t make any soup today, but I did make some brownies for the sweet table,” she said.
“On a scale of 1-10, my mom’s brownies are a 10,” Meg Southard said.
Must be the extra chocolate chips, mom said.
The Margate schools held a fundraiser to aid organizations that feed the hungry Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025.
Copyright Access Network 2025
