A Hug in a Bowl personified
Sharon Hapton, a successful Calgary-based businesswoman and mother of two, is the founder and CEO of Soup Sisters and Hug in a Bowl Enterprises.
In 2008-2009, leading up to her 50th birthday, Sharon channeled her belief in the healing power of homemade soup into founding Soup Sisters, a grassroots organization. Recognized nationally and regionally for her work, Sharon has led the movement that has delivered over 4 million ‘Hugs in a Bowl’ to families and individuals in crisis. She has received numerous accolades, including being named one of Chatelaine’s and CityTV’s Women of the Year and receiving the Meritorious Service Medal from the Governor General of Canada in 2016.
“I am a soup maker. I have cared for family and friends with soup for most of my adult life. If someone was down or needed some extra care, I would show up at their door, most often unannounced and with soup. I knew that this simple gesture had the power to change their day, and in the process of making it, I was letting them know how much I cared.
The whole exchange – the soup-making, the visit, the comfort it provided and the appreciation it returned – created a fulfilling cycle of giving. Here is the recipe for Soup Sisters. “All it took was for me to realize that I didn’t need to look beyond my truest self and that what I was looking for had always been inside me, just waiting to be recognized. After all, I am, and always have been, a soup maker.”
The Soup Sisters and Hug in a Bowl Enterprises operate with a profound, clear dedication to nourishing communities through the provision of universal comfort food. This grassroots organization, born from the simple, yet powerful, gesture of bringing homemade soup to a friend in need, has scaled its impact dramatically to address a major affordability crisis plaguing Canada. Today, with 8.7 million people facing food insecurity, the mission of providing warmth and sustenance is more vital than ever. The organization utilizes an efficient and transparent “MISO model of giving,” which stands for Money In Soup Out, ensuring donations are swiftly translated into tangible nourishment. This approach allows them to support social service organizations, offer Souper Kids Hot Lunch Soup Days in schools where students often go hungry, and provide ready-to-eat comfort to frontline agencies struggling with rising food costs and stretched budgets.
The commercial arm of the movement, Hug in a Bowl Enterprises, further solidifies this vital cycle of giving. It creates delicious, high-quality, and nutritious soups specifically designed for food service, featuring premium ingredients and chef-crafted flavors. Crucially, every case of these food service-ready soups sold directly helps to fund Soup Sisters’ food security programs, making commercial purchases a direct pipeline for community support and fulfilling the organization’s charitable mission. This commitment to local food security, alongside their admirable practice of producing commercially with zero food waste, exemplifies a comprehensive and sustainable business model rooted deeply in empathy. The immense scale of this collective effort is demonstrated by the delivery of over 4.5 million ‘Hugs in a Bowl’, the monthly provision of over 10,000 complete meals, and the inspiring engagement of more than 100,000 dedicated soup-making volunteers across the country. The simple act of providing a meal becomes a meaningful, tangible expression of solidarity and hope across the nation.
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