Nothing beats a warm bowl of soup on a chilly winter day — and on Sunday, Jan. 31, you can eat to your heart’s content and support the Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families at the same time.
The 35th annual Soup Sunday, the AACF’s primary fundraising event, is an evening of soups, breads and sweets from some of Little Rock’s finest and favorite restaurants.
AACF works to shape policies that ensure all children and their families have the resources and opportunities to lead healthy and productive lives and to realize their full potential.
Tickets range from $10-$50 and the dinner takes place from 4-7 p.m. at the Statehouse Convention Center. The VIP room even features eats from Chef Tim Morton from Cache Retaurant, desserts from Ristorante Capeo and Le Pops and complimentary beer and wine.
We got the inside scoop on Soup Sunday from Hannah Vogler, chair for the event.
Soirée: What exactly does AACF do?
Hannah Vogler: I see AACF as the biggest and best watchdog for our state’s children and families. They are one of the most respected voices in our state – through their work on data collection and analysis, publications, advocacy at both the Arkansas and U.S. Capitol, and building coalitions of people and organizations who work for positive change.
Tell us about Soup Sunday. What makes this 35th anniversary special?
HV: The 35th anniversary is special to me personally because my dad brought me to the very first Soup Sunday when I was a little girl. I thought it was just a fun party, and it is my first memory of a fundraising event designed purely to help others. When my dad explained exactly what we were doing, I immediately fell in love with everything about Soup Sunday – and that hasn’t changed in 35 years.
Today as an adult, I feel like central Arkansas is a place where events are often changing and trying to be bigger, better, fancier, and more expensive, so it is pretty unique for an event to have been around 35 years and to still be so close to its roots. In my mind, Soup Sunday is almost the exact same event that it was 35 years ago – a lot of people who want the best for our state’s children and families, hanging out together and tasting soup from restaurants that want to support the work of AACF.
How is Soup Sunday different from other fundraising events?
HV: I have worked on hundreds upon hundreds of events, and there are plenty of evenings where you can put on some fancy clothes, do your hair, smile and wave to people you know across the room, and spend a whole lot of money to support a good cause. And that is fun – but Soup Sunday is not this event! It is a ‘jeans and sweatshirt, y’all come and visit with your friends’ kind of event. It is laidback and open to everyone … We even have a separate area set up for kids activities!
What do you love most about AACF?
HV: This is little bit of a long story, but one my dad told often about social workers. To sum it up, if a group of people sees a bunch of kids drowning in the river, they rush down to pull them out and keep them from drowning – and that is incredibly important work. But social workers are those who, while everyone else is pulling kids out of the water, will walk upriver to try to keep them from falling in the water in the first place.
I love and support AACF because, like social workers, they go ”upstream” and find ways to create a world where kids don’t ever fall in the river in the first place – just like my dad.
To learn more about Soup Sunday and to claim your spot, click here.