Our Heartfelt Appreciation to Everyone Who Came Together to Support the 17th Annual Soup Challenge!

May 31, 2022
People standing in a kitchen before the soup challenge.

The Soup Challenge is St. Leonard’s Community Services’ largest annual fundraiser. Traditionally, top local chefs compete with their signature soups at a public event to raise funds for youth homelessness programs. For this year’s 17th Annual Soup Challenge, three youth from our shelters – who have never cooked before – make the soups in a competition to impress the chefs. It gets spicy.

The 17th Annual Soup Challenge - 2022

For this year's Soup Challenge, three young people from our Housing program – who have never cooked before – compete to create the prize-winning soup from donated ingredients in a commercial kitchen. Their creations are then tasted and judged by a panel of top local chefs. It gets spicy.

To support the Soup Challenge and the programs we offer to help youth experiencing homelessness here in Brantford, you can make an online donation. 

The community really came together to help us put on this event. We couldn’t have done it without the support and generosity of so many local people and businesses.

We would like to thank:

Catherine Ferrar and Our Kitchen Brantford for providing the commercial kitchen to film the Soup Challenge as well as some of the ingredients for the soups and the assistance of OKB chef Shawn Rocchi hosting and mentoring.

Heather Slot and The Grilled Cheese Effect for strategic planning, hosting, and mentoring the young participants in the Soup Challenge.  

The vegetables used in the soups were generously donated by Elberta Farms and the chicken was given to us by Southern Pride Poultry.

Mike D’Eri from Pynx Productions provided production assistance and camera work on the filming.

The event was sponsored by:

Fundraising assistance was provided by:

Chefs generously donating their time to participate:

Audrey MacKinnon, the Food Network’s Junior Chef Showdown champion

Ryan Devlin, Chef, owner, Devlin’s Country Bistro

Philip Scherle, Head Chef, Best Western

and Shawn Rocchi, Chef, Program Director, Our Kitchen Brantford.

Sponsor logos.

Recent Announcements

National Addictions Awareness Week
SOAR Community Services is a proud community member working to raise awareness about addiction and the resources available in our community.
Work with us! Apply by October 18.
We want to meet you! We're hiring: Housing Support Counsellors, Justice Support Counsellors, Withdrawal Management Workers, Residential Counsellors, Crisis Counsellors, Registered Practical Nurses. Submit your resume to recruit@soarcs.ca by October 18th! Successful applicants will be invited to our interview day on October 23rd.
RCMP Career Information Session
This session offers you the chance to hear first-hand from our recruiters about the exciting career opportunity that awaits you. You’ll also get into the details of the recruiting process including the requirements and expectations for applying and how to prepare for each stage. If you’re still not sure and want to know more, this is the presentation for you.
Haldimand Job Fair 2024
Come to the Haldimand Job Fair! Date: October 17  Time: 3 PM to 6 PM  Location: Caledonia Fairgrounds, 151 Caithness St E
Harm Reduction Vending Machine "Our…
The Brant County Health Unit (BCHU), in collaboration with SOAR Community Services (formerly St. Leonard's Community Services) and REACH Nexus, a research group housed at MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, is proud to announce the launch of Our Healthbox, a harm reduction vending machine now located at 133 Elgin St. in Brantford.
St. Leonard's Community Services Rebrands to…
St. Leonard's Community Services, a trusted not-for-profit organization serving the communities of Brantford, Brant, and Haldimand for over 55 years, is excited to announce its rebranding to SOAR Community Services.