“Rugby Soupe” – Montreal Rugby Community Takes Action During Covid-19
Fundraising
Montreal Irish Rugby Football Club and Quebec rugby community at large come together to provide meals and other necessities to people in need.
Rugby Soupe is a not for profit organization born from the Montreal rugby community during the Covid-19 pandemic which focuses on minimizing food insecurity for the city’s homeless population.
I do not know exactly how “Rugby Soupe” started. I believe my friend James Acker saw on CBC that volunteers were needed to make food and, being who he is, said to himself: “we need to find a way to help.” As a person of action, James decided that he had to do something – so he started making soup. He went out, bought the ingredients, and then he started cooking. Before long, a veritable army of volunteers, donors, chefs, drivers and well-wishers – all in one way or another associated with the rugby community in Montreal – were lending their support.
According to James Acker, the founder of Rugby Soupe: “I haven’t asked a single person for help, yet we’re now 30+ people involved in the effort (…) more than the food, we’ve given a boost to the cooks and front line workers from these organizations; 15$ produces 50 servings; we’re making an impact on food insecurity, and are perhaps seeing a sharing economy of the future where food insecurity simply doesn’t exist (…) There are at least 8 local rugby clubs now implicated [in Rugby Soupe] directly: Town of Mount Royal RFC, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue Rugby Club, Parc Olympique Rugby Club, Rugby Club de Montreal, Westmount Rugby Club, Montreal Wanderers Rugby Club, Beaconsfield RFC and the Montreal Irish Rugby Football Club.”
Volunteers for a Good Cause
As of May 8th, Rugby Soupe has cooked and delivered over 6,000 meals and is averaging over 150 meals per day. Simply put, this is an amazing accomplishment and we salute each volunteer involved in this program. Like in any successful organization, it is impossible to mention everybody that is involved, but the following people from the Montreal rugby community deserve special recognition for all that they have put into this initiative: Dave Keane, Etienne Labrie, Kenny Macintyre, Max Mousset, Sommer Christie, Martin Silverstone, John Lavery, Alain Ouellette, Dion Varvarikos and Tom Smith.
Rugby Soupe’s main benefactor is Resilience Montreal. According to their website (http://www.nwsm.info/resilience-montreal), Resilience are a “collaboration between the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal and Nazareth Community. It is a low-barrier service open to everyone, providing food and shelter as well as mental health and medical support services and access to a multitude of other resources.”
How can I Help?
To learn more about Rugby Soupe, or to get involved or make a donation, please visit: https://www.rugbysoupe.com/