Families at several local shelters got a special early Valentine’s gift!

Volunteers from across Hampton Roads gathered Saturday, February 11,  at the Judeo Christian Outreach Center at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront for the “Stone Soup” project.

The United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council and their families prepared meals for various agencies.

I brought my niece and nephew and we helped put together casseroles, soup, and hot chocolate mixes.

We also made Valentine’s cards with encouraging words for the recipients.

75 people registered for the group project and United Way officials say it’s one of their biggest aside from the Day of Caring. I was glad my niece and nephew wanted to help out. Even at 11 and 14, they understand how lucky they are to have a roof over their head and food to eat.

My nephew was so excited, he read the book Stone Soup to us in the car during the ride to the center.

It’s an old story about creating soup from a stone to feed the hungry. Each of us had an assignment to bring in ingredients for our various meals. We brought mushrooms, ground beef and shredded cheese.

We made a casserole with rice, peas, cream of mushroom soup, chicken and milk.

The meals will feed families at the YWCA, PARC, The Dwelling Place, Samaritan House, and Seton Youth shelters.

It was a fun day!  We met a lot of nice people and got a lot done in an hour and a half! Teamwork and volunteerism- what’s better than that?

“What you give ought to be in direct relationship to what you’ve received.  If you have been blessed with a great deal, then you have a lot of giving to do.”Johnnetta B. Cole

 

Tags: fammilies, judeo christian outreach center, kids, nicole livas, parc, project, Samaritan House, seton house, shelters, stone soup, The Dwelling Place, united way of south hampton roads, virginia beach, volunteerism, volunteers, women's leadership council, YWCA