Northern Kentucky University’s FUEL NKU hosts its inaugural Souper Supper on Dec. 30. Building on the success of its Thanksgiving dinner, the campus community center is serving a family-style dinner for students who are staying at NKU while the university is on break.
Since 2013, FUEL NKU has provided food and essentials to NKU students, and this remains true even when the university is closed for holidays. Over Thanksgiving break, FUEL NKU hosted more than 200 students for a Thanksgiving celebration. Recognizing that students need consistent university support, FUEL NKU founder Dr. Jessica Averitt Taylor expanded the idea this year to cover winter break as well.
“We have over 300 students planning to stay on campus during the winter break, and NKU is otherwise closed during much of that time. This is an opportunity for us to provide a warm meal and a sense of community on campus,” said Dr. Taylor.
The Souper Supper is also the first event celebrating FUEL NKU’s new partnership with La Soupe, a local non-profit dedicated to rescuing perishable foods and transforming them into nutritious meals for those in need. Each week, La Soupe rescues 5,000 pounds of perishables and shares approximately 3,000 servings via 47 partner agencies.
FUEL NKU has a number of community partners also supporting the Souper Supper. In addition to La Soupe, partners for this event include Panera Bread will be providing fresh breads and Master Provisions will donate drinks. The School of Social Work, University Housing and the College of Health and Human Services will each provide support for event.
“At FUEL NKU, our partnerships and supporters make this work possible. We are always welcome to finding new partners to support our mission of ending food insecurity on NKU’s campus,” said Dr. Taylor. “We connected with La Soupe over a year ago, and at that time both of our organizations were experiencing tremendous growth. Now, we’re both more established, and the timing is perfect for a partnership between our organizations. FUEL NKU is a model for student support, and La Soupe is a model for zero waste- it is a great match.”
The Souper Supper is open to all NKU students. There is no cost to attend the event, and all students staying on campus over the winter break are invited to attend.
• What: FUEL NKU’s Souper Supper
• When: Dec. 30, 5-7 p.m.
• Where: NKU Baptist Student Center, Carroll Drive
“FUEL NKU follows the university’s schedule, and so we will be closed over the winter break. If any student needs us, please send an email to fuel@nku.edu, and we will do our very best to help them. We believe that no one should go without food,” said Dr. Taylor.
For more on the Souper Supper event visit FUEL NKU’s Facebook page.
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