Empty Bowl luncheons reveal the emotional power of soup

Just about everyone has a warm early childhood memory regarding soup.

For Stephanie Grepling, director of marketing for Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee, it centers on her father, Bob Grepling of Osprey.

“My dad was the genius in the kitchen,” Grepling said Wednesday. “He got me to love soup. His Weight Watchers’ soup was always a big hit in our house because my mom was always on Weight Watchers. It was a lot of cabbage soup.”

For Judi Bjork, vice president of client activities and events at Meals on Wheels Plus, it was the special chicken soup made from farm-raised chickens by her grandmother, Anna Brincku, who was originally from Yugoslavia.

“She would make soup for us all the time,” Bjork said. “In the heat of the summer we would be sitting on her back porch on the family farm in Suffern, N.Y., eating soup and sweating because she said it would cool us down. In turn, I raised my kids on soup. They never had McDonalds.”

For 17 straight years, The Food Bank of Manatee, a part of Meals on Wheels PLUS, has benefited from Empty Bowls Luncheons where people pay $25 for general admission or $50 for a VIP ticket, to get a cup of unique soup from one of dozens of local restaurants and also receive a wood or ceramic soup bowl handmade by a local artist to take home with them.

The VIP ticket guarantees an early entry for bowl selection, which this year includes unusual wooden bowls donated by Sarasota Woodturners, a local club whose members enjoy turning wood into works of art.

Every bit of the money raised during “Empty Bowls” goes to stocking The Food Bank of Manatee, which is the largest hunger relief organization in Manatee County, providing food to more than 115 local social service agencies, food pantries and soup kitchens, said Maribeth Phillips, chief executive officer, Meals on Wheels PLUS.

This year, Empty Bowl Luncheons will be held at 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 2 at Renaissance on 9th, 1816 Ninth St. W., Bradenton, and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 3 at 8131 Main Street in Lakewood Ranch.

Tickets can be purchased at foodbankofmanatee.org or at the doors at the above locations.

500 patrons are expected

Phillips estimates 500 patrons will dine on some familiar and some exotic soups this year like Asian shrimp soup, Cheeseburger in Paradise soup, creamy Buffalo chicken soup and good old chicken and barley and will help neighbors in need at the same time.

Grepling, Bjork and Phillips, in something completely new, are asking Empty Bowl patrons to post their childhood soup memories on the “Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee, Inc.” Facebook page before they attend one of the two events.

“It will be interesting to see what they share with us,” said Phillips, whose own early childhood soup memory goes back to her childhood days in Connecticut.

“My soup memory goes to the cold winters and snow in Connecticut and I remember as a kid being outside, in the snow, and coming inside and having hearty soup, like beef barley, chicken noodle and that’s how we grew up,” said Phillips.

This story was originally published October 25, 2017 at 4:41 PM with the headline "Empty Bowl luncheons reveal the emotional power of soup."