Skip to content

South Okanagan community raises $14,000 for addiction recovery program

Penticton’s Discovery House raised over $14,000 and dished out over 1,800 bowls of soup
24661908_web1_190306-PWN-Discovery-soup
Cavin Noonan, left, and Terry Fussey of Discovery House with their soup creation for a previous Soup is Good Food fundraiser. (File photo - Western News)

Despite having to end a week early, the 10th annual Discovery House Soup is Good Food fundraiser was the best one yet.

The fundraiser in support of Penticton’s addiction recovery program raised over $14,000 from the community.

In total they sold more than 1,800 soups, with close to 500 donated for both Keep the Cold Off Penticton and the South Okanagan Women In Need Society to distribute through the community.

“There were a lot of donations, people were very generous with that,” said Jerome Abraham, executive director of the Penticton Recovery Resource Society, which runs Discovery House. “Considering when we started this it wasn’t even really a fundraiser and we were happy we raised $800.”

This year, the fundraiser added delivery and brought orders to people’s cars for pick-up due to COVID-19. Orders were scheduled for pick-up for every five minutes, and Abraham isn’t sure how many orders were actually delivered, only that their four drivers were constantly busy for two straight hours every week.

The previous best the fundraiser had raised was R $6,000.

READ MORE: Penticton’s Discovery House beats fundraising goal to expand program

The original plan was to run for six weeks, but due to having to move clients around and other projects underway, the last week was put off. That won’t be the end of it, as Abraham said they are looking at potentially going to once-a-month food programs.

“Everybody working together, the clients innovating how they’re setting stuff up, I think by the third week by the time Blaine our manager came in at 7 in the morning they already had everything set up,” said Abraham. “All the crockpots were out, the tables set out and furniture pushed aside, so I think they really enjoyed it. They did a fantastic job.”

Things have been busy for the program as they have recently received funding for three new beds, which bring the program’s capacity up to 20 and will be ready by the end of next week.

READ MORE: Discovery House’ 10th annual Soup is Good Food fundraiser kicks off next week

Even though the soups were cut short, it won’t necessarily be the end of food from Discovery House. Already, they’re thinking about potentially doing more, one-off lunches in the future.

“I don’t want to be in the food industry ever, although we did find we could probably do something once a month. The community was really supportive, and we’ve been looking for something that the guys could do as a social enterprise.”

The next special event hasn’t been fully planned yet, but Abraham says at the moment they’re thinking pasta.

“A couple kinds of pasta and different kinds of sauces you can choose, and we’ll see how that goes.”

Abraham thanked Cobs Bread, who donated over 1,500 buns, McDonalds for 1,000 cups of coffee, the Nest, Shades and Brodo’s for donating soup and time to do a cooking lesson, and the community for their outpouring of support.

To report a typo, email: editor@pentictonwesternnews.com.

<>

@PentictonNews
newstips@pentictonwesternnews.com

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.



Brennan Phillips

About the Author: Brennan Phillips

Brennan was raised in the Okanagan and is thankful every day that he gets to live and work in one of the most beautiful places in Canada.
Read more