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Suzy Dorward and Suzy DeYoung: The "Soup"-er Suzys of La Soupe
Cooking up major growth for La Soupe
By Shauna Steigerwald
“There’s more food out there than you could ever imagine, and there are more hungry people out there than you could ever imagine,” Suzy DeYoung said.
La Soupe, the nonprofit she founded in 2014, works to bridge that gap, using food that otherwise might go to waste to create meals for people who otherwise might go hungry.
In its short existence, the organization has rescued a million pounds of food and transformed it into 650,000 servings – all in a 900-square-foot space.
Now, La Soupe is poised for growth. A $5 million capital campaign is funding a new 7,500-squarefoot facility in East Walnut Hills and will provide operating funds so La Soupe can expand its programs.
To help the burgeoning organization achieve its goals, DeYoung brought on a development director with a long history of success. During her more than 30-year career, Suzy Dorward has helped raise $140 million for Cincinnati nonprofi ts.
“So many people say ‘I hate to raise money,’ ” she said. “I say I just connect a mission with someone’s heart and hope it results in an investment in the cause.”
After volunteering with La Soupe for two years, she now is making those connections as part of the nonprofi t’s staff . In that regard, it seems that two Suzys are better than one. “Suzy (DeYoung) tells the story. Suzy tells the need. Suzy shares the passion,” Dorward said. “I’m there to ask, ‘How would you like to be involved in the future of this vision you’ve just heard from this wonderful woman?’ ”
Both women clearly share a passion for helping others. But diff erent paths led them to pursue that passion at the same organization.
A chef on a mission
DeYoung jokes she was genetically predisposed to become a chef, following in the footsteps of her grandfather and her father. The latter, Pierre Adrian, was the fi rst executive chef at the Maisonette.
DeYoung worked in multiple restaurants before teaming with her sister to open La Petite Pierre. After 25 years, she sold her interest to her sister and focused on combating the waste of leftover food she’d witnessed as a restaurateur and caterer.
“Giving the food away was not that easy,” she said. “Th ere was nobody doing any kind of rescue of fresh prepared meals.”
Her La Soupe filled that void, and then some.
“At the beginning, what I thought about was how much food restaurants were wasting,” she said. But she soon looked for waste at places like grocery stores, where she could get fresh ingredients. Kroger was an early partner in that mission.
During La Soupe’s fi rst year, DeYoung turned 100 pounds of produce a week into soup for people in need. Working with Oyler School in Lower Price Hill established the model of partnering with agencies to supply healthy meals “made with comfort and love,” as she puts it. But that modest pace didn’t last long.
“It blew up on me,” DeYoung said.
She’s not kidding. Today, working with grocery stores, markets and bakeries, each week La Soupe rescues approximately 8,000 pounds of perishables and distributes 5,000 servings of food to more than 60 partner agencies. Some 200 active volunteers help prepare or transport the food. More than a dozen chefs participate in Bucket Brigade, using their own overages or produce provided by La Soupe to create meals for distribution.
“They are transforming the food … into good-tasting meals,” Sunny Reelhorn Parr, Kroger Foundation director at the Kroger Co., said of La Soupe. “That to me is really innovative. I wish more nonprofi ts across the nation were doing this type of work.” (In addition to Kroger’s role as a rescue partner, which Reelhorn Parr said fits well with the company’s Zero Hunger Zero Waste plan, the foundation also helps fund La Soupe.)
Reelhorn Parr appreciates that La Soupe has launched other initiatives that “are lifting up their clients to be able to sustain themselves.”
One such program is Cincinnati Gives a Crock. A cooking class for high school students, it grew organically out of DeYoung’s food distribution at Oyler.
“The kids asked the principal, ‘How can I learn to cook like this?’ ” DeYoung said.
So she set out to teach them. When many of the kids said microwaves or hot plates were their only means of cooking at home, she started supplying slow cookers.
The after-school class not only teaches the students to cook, but it also motivates them to show up at school to receive food, she said. And it gives them something less tangible. DeYoung quotes one Oyler student: “I am a hero to my family.”
“They’re going to see that there’s something more than their current situation and the cards that have been dealt to them,” said Jim Dechert, a member of La Soupe’s board.
Speaking more broadly about La Soupe’s work, Dechert appreciates DeYoung’s drive to make things happen – even when it’s not clear how.
“She just puts the accelerator down and says, ‘We’re going to do this, and we’re going to figure it out as we go,’ ” he said. “She has a huge entrepreneurial spirit to help the community.”
Suzy Dorward and Suzy DeYoung
Tapping development expertise
With all of its growth, La Soupe needed development expertise. Suzy Dorward connected with the organization in 2017 while working as development director for Mercy Health Foundation-Cincinnati. Dorward’s long fundraising resume includes stints at Cincinnati Parks Foundation, YMCA of Greater Cincinnati, Cincinnati Art Museum and Fine Arts Fund (now ArtsWave). “The thing that kept me in the development arena for over 30 years was the dedication of the colleagues with whom I worked and the opportunity to make Cincinnati a better place to live,” she said. “Working side-by-side with creative, talented and passionate people who don’t make a lot of money, who chose to lend those qualities to make this city a better place for everyone, is inspiring.”
“To have somebody dedicate a career of that length in that specifi c field, you’re going to touch a lot of lives,” said Jon Labbe, president of Mercy Health Foundation. “Some of the things she’s done and been a part of are going to be around for a long time.”
Labbe describes Dorward as a mentor and friend. Th ey met while working on the development team at Mercy, where Labbe later moved into his current role. Dorward’s ability to connect with people in a meaningful way is one of the reasons she has been successful, he said.
“She’s able to paint a picture and share with people a story that’s really compelling,” he said. “It’s not just about giving money. It’s about being part of something.” When Suzy met Suzy
When Dorward met DeYoung and La Soupe board president Mimi Dyer, she saw their passion and wanted to help. Among her fi rst projects as a volunteer was helping organize WASTEd and the City, a fundraiser wherein restaurants in Downtown, Over-the-Rhine and Pendleton showcase rescued food in support of La Soupe.
Last August, Dorward retired … for about a week. She then joined what she describes as the “amazing” staff at La Soupe.
“I knew in my heart that this is the place for me to do my last fundraising in Cincinnati,” she said. “While fundraising is hard, this mission makes it easier to connect people with a problem and a solution.”
Although she has serious plans, Dorward also plans to enjoy the ride.
“I hope to put the strategy and the structure into place so we can be fi - nancially stable in the future,” she said. “And I want to have fun. Suzy promised me fun, and she has delivered.” “We always have fun,” DeYoung agreed.
Part of the fun is the growth ahead. At the new space, which they hope will be ready by March, they can have a lot more cooks in the kitchen (literally). “Imagine how many more people we can feed,” DeYoung said.
There also will be room and funds for more cooking classes and additional programs. One in the works is Food as Medicine, which La Soupe is launching with Christ Hospital as its first partner. Th e idea is to supply meals to families in need but also give them healthy recipes and fresh produce so they can make their own. DeYoung doesn’t anticipate spending much of her time in the new kitchen. (But she’s looking forward to having an offi ce that isn’t her car.) Th ese days, she stays busy with tasks that include speaking engagements and researching other programs for ideas La Soupe might implement – new challenges she enjoys.
“To me, you’re the luckiest person in the world if you fi nd your purpose and your passion,” she added. “To be able to fi nd a purpose and passion like this is awesome.”
www.lasoupe.org
