A warm meal on the coldest of days, Soup After Dark seeks to address hunger in Regina's downtown

A Regina organization has been working to make sure those in downtown Regina have a hot meal on cold days.

Local program “Soup After Dark” has the goal of providing hot meals daily throughout the coldest months of the year, which can total up to 148 consecutive days.

The idea comes from infiNate Initiatives CEO and founder Nathaniel Hewton.  And 2023 marks the second year the team is serving soup in Regina.

In addition to hot meals, they can also be seen distributing clothing and hygiene products for those in need.

Amanda Lanoway is the secretary treasurer for Soup After Dark. She says the idea for the program stemmed from community members noticing a substantial lack of food outreach programs which operate through the winter.

“They were operational during the summer months and then went away during the winter,” she told CTV News. “Its actually dangerous at times to find your next warm meal so we talked to some people in the community and decided to throw down together and make this happen.

“It truly is a community wide initiative,” she added.

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With the soup coming from the Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s culinary classes – volunteers dishing out bowls – and additional food donations coming from a variety of community partners – it certainly proves to be a community wide initiative.

As for the future of the program, the team is hopeful to see Soup After Dark continue to grow.

“We’ve talked to some people in Edmonton about the similar program and are hoping that this could be a nation wide challenge,” Lanoway said.

“It’s something individuals can do themselves, it does take resources but with the right people you can make it happen.”

Anyone looking to contribute to Soup After Dark’s efforts can find them via social media.