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Mud Puddle Farm's Rustic Kitchen serves up tomato-bacon soup as part of Soup It Forward Day (photo provided)
By Liam Verster
Soup De Jour

Grande Prairie restaurant uses Soup It Forward Day to provide meals to two local non-profits

Mar 3, 2021 | 1:09 PM

The Mud Puddle Farm’s Rustic Kitchen in Grande Prairie is celebrating National Soup It Forward Day by pledging meal donations to two local non-profits based off soup sales.

“So if somebody comes in and buys one soup, two soups will go into pot, we’re going to make a big pot of soup tomorrow, and split it between the Odyssey House and the St. Lawrence Centre,” says Sue Bouchard, co-owner of Mud Puddle.

Bouchard says on a normal day Mud Puddle will sell about 40 portions of soup, but they’ve already made double that in preparation for the day, and in the case that they do sell out, they have ready-made freezer-meal soups that may be added to the donation pot.

It’s the first time Mud Puddle will be participating in the Soup It Forward Day, which was founded on March 3, 2018 by the Calgary-based organization Soup Sisters.

However, Bouchard says they have been active in supporting local non-profits in the past through other donations, and because of their location downtown, they often help those in need when they can.

“We see people in the winter time, they’re cold, they’re hanging around outside, nobody knows their story but it always touches my heart. We’ve given coffee to different people, and I just don’t want to see anybody go hungry.”

She adds that they are also looking for more opportunities to give back to other organizations in the future, and though some talks are happening with Helping Hands of Grande Prairie, nothing has been decided on as of yet.

Bouchard says it’s great to see how much support local businesses get from residents, adding that she believes they owe it to give back to the community.

Mud Puddle Farm’s Rustic Kitchen is located on the ground level of Nordic Court (the former Jeffrey’s location) and is open until 6 p.m. Wednesday. The hot soup will be served until 2 p.m.

by Liam Verster