Soup's On! Celebrities Serve Hot Meal for Food Bank Benefit

No cooking for you tonight — that's an order from the St. Vincent de Paul soup benefit for the Amazing Grace Food Pantry tonight from 5-7 p.m.

This is a true community effort as volunteers are helping put this thing together and area businesses have donated their best soups, featuring firehouse chili, vegetarian soup, portugese kale soup, butternut squash soup, beef barley, vegetarian lentil barley, Mexican meatball soup, Jamaican Jerk chicken soup and gumbo.

Businesses include: Red House, Blackbird Tavern LLC, Puerto Vallarta, chili from South Fire District Firefighters IAFF Local 3918, bread donated by Taste of Italy Bakery, Fusion Bakery & Patisserie LLC, South Side Market, Panera, Price Chopper Supermarkets, plus dessert from NoRA Cupcake Company.  

It all takes place at the Monsignor M. Davitt Fox Parish Center at St. Francis of Assisi Church, 10 Elm St., Middletown (opposite the Middletown Post Office on Silver Street).

The meal marks the kickoff for Amazing Grace's effort to raise funds to meet the City of Middletown's Challenge Grant of $22,500, which will enable the food pantry to continue to serve close to 1,000 families every month.

Monetary and non-perishable food items will be taken as donations for soups.

"Celebrity" servers who'll be passing out the steaming hot bowls tonight are: Mayor Dan Drew, Suzanna Personette, Patti Vassia, Sen. Paul Doyle, Michele Rulnick, Sheila Daniels, Rep. Matt Lesser, Chief McKenna, Phil Pessina, Joe and Donna Marino, Seb Giuliano, Joe Bibisi, Fr. John Gallagher, Brother Brian (principal at Xavier), Izzy Greenberg, Bobbye Knoll, Grady Faulkner, James Mastroianni, Ed Bonilla, Julia Burkey, Linda Marino and former Sen. Len Suzio.

Can't make it? Donate to Amazing Grace by emailing mimi@svdmiddletown.org, calling (860) 347-1829 or stop by 16 Stack Street in Middletown Monday, Wednesday or Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.