It all started when “Mama Ginger Passarelli” volunteered her restaurateur services during post-Hurricane Katrina havoc whereby multitudes of Americans in Louisiana were smacked by nature and left in despair. Hunger ensued, and Mama saw an opportunity to pitch in and do her part. But she also observed something else: “There was no one feeding the first responders” who were helping others. “They had MREs and granola bars. That’s just so wrong,” Mama recounted. That is what I call a seed needing water. That spawned a grassroots effort to assemble a group of goodhearted women, otherwise named the Soup Ladies, who love to cook and feed those in the public safety profession.
In the antiquated close quarters of Mama Passarelli’s Dinner House located in Black Diamond, Washington, the assemblage of Soup Ladies prepared meals and took them to first responders in their geographical area. Notice the past-tense uses in that previous sentence. Mama Passarelli sold her restaurant and retired. Although that news is a letdown for repeat eat-in customers, it is a boon for public safety professionals working out in their jurisdictional domains.
A large pull on Mama Passarelli’s heart was to cook expressly for police officers, firefighters, paramedics and military personnel working on behalf of others. Seeing an opportunity to sell the restaurant and then solely prepare food to go on the road, Mama decided to do just that. She had a plan: cook at home, load the meals into some old pickup trucks donated by a local sheriff’s office, and get the goods to those on-duty. Oh, and there were no local boundaries to keep the Soup Ladies from traversing Americana to feed those who don badges. At least, that was in the playbook. The Soup Ladies team was already put together. All that was lacking were the necessary resources for mission fulfillment.
That’s where Discovery Channel’s Mike Rowe comes in. His newest “project” is hosting “Returning The Favor,” a Facebook-exclusive series whereby do-gooders in communities across America are highlighted for their deeds and rewarded in some fashion, usually a whopping check or expenses paid for equipment to expand their respective mission. Sometimes both.
I recently wrote about Mike Rowe regarding one of his Returning The Favor episodes, a particular production exposing and showcasing Canton, Ohio police Officer Lamar Sharpe for his “Be a Better Me Foundation” and mentoring youngsters. I’m happy to write about another first responder-related storyline out of Black Diamond, Washington. Black Diamond (population 4,338) is in the Seattle area, roughly 2,620 miles to New Orleans, where Mama took the trip to feed first responders serving during the indelible ravages of Hurricane Katrina. That’s 2,620 miles to prepare meals and feed people in need—signs of a unfailingly altruistic woman.
Aprons, Appetizers, and Crisis Management
As mentioned above, Mama had a life-change brewing in her heart. She answered the call. As she puts pertaining to full-time feeding first responders: “This truly is where my heart is. I’m all done with restaurants. Now I get to do what makes my heart happy. I get to feed all these wonderful people that risk their lives for us. That’s what I get to do.”
At present, Mama’s Soup Ladies contingent consists of fifty women who not only cook for public safety pros but who also have certifications in crisis management. I never would’ve imagined that component had not Mike Rowe and the Returning The Favor production crew stumbled onto those two dynamic ingredients implicitly jibing with public servants who endure the worst of the worst. Not only metaphorically through meals for police and fire officials, but also via direct conversational counsel do the Soup Ladies aid first responders bearing burdens born of duty.
One of those fifty making up the Soup Ladies happens to be Mama’s daughter, Judi Storman, who partakes in meal preparation while also supporting her mother’s humanistic venture.
“She’s an inspiration to me and…I’d like to see it going nationwide. That’s what I’m aiming for,” Mama’s daughter Judi said through an emotion-laden, quivering voice. Rowe’s ears perked and the producers’ checkbooks vibrated upon hearing that notion. “That’s the thing, right there,” said Rowe while chopping meats for one of Mama’s recipes. Indeed, she puts as many folks to work, including a do-gooder like Mike Rowe. After all, it is not about anything other than catering to those on the frontlines, kinda like a USO club returning the favor to our country’s warriors.
How large of an evolutionary operation can the Soup Lady concept be remains to be seen. Mama attests they need more volunteers. A nugget she offered is, “Last year we put out 11,400 meals and there is no charge to any [police or fire services] agency.” One can imagine what nationwide expansion can do for the first responders demographic fighting woes across the country. We are currently witnessing loss of life and total devastation stemming from the California wildfires. I have seen picture after picture of firefighters exhausted and covered with fire-related particulate…too fatigued to raise their head. The energy and gesture of a protein-rich bowl of chow from the Soup Ladies can do wonders for these firefighting ladies and gents. A national Soup Lady program can be invaluable during times and events such as these.
Rowe and company did what Returning The Favor is all about: rewarding and paying it forward. They contracted with a custom-trailer manufacturer and bestowed a well-appointed mobile kitchen for the Soup Ladies to take on the road and provide meals wherever first responders are entrenched.
Who needs the Food Network when you have this network of food?
You viewed the video. You heard her testimonies. You witnessed her exuberance for serving those who serve. What cop, firefighter, paramedic or soldier doesn’t want one or fifty-one Mama Gingers whisking up some good eats during duty? Printed on the sides of her modest fleet, “Warming the world one bowl at a time” is Mama Ginger’s motto…ladled with love and respect. As Mama echoed about first responders: “We love those guys. They’re our heroes. They are heroes!” There is no doubt America’s first responders reciprocate that same respect and honor for at least fifty aproned soup ladies hopping from city to city…feeding bellies under badges.
Who helps the helpers? Mama Ginger and the Soup Ladies, that’s who.
