Cardinal Pacelli Brings Impact to Cincinnati With La Soupe Collaboration

Seventh Grade Cardinal Pacelli students prepare Peppers during a cooking improve class,

The students at Cardinal Pacelli School have been making an impact in the Cincinnati community through their ongoing partnership with La Soupe.

Students load donations onto the Van.

"I wanted the kids to engage with the community in a meaningful way,” shared Ann Hambleton, a devoted parent volunteer who helped launch the food drive. She and another parent volunteer, Ann Murray, teamed up to start a partnership with La Soupe. “It’s turned out to be such a perfect fit.”

Cardinal Pacelli, a preschool through grade eight parochial school with around 420 students, began the food drive in 2022 during Catholic Schools Week.

"Partnering with La Soupe, an organization focused on fighting food insecurity and reducing food waste, felt like a natural choice," Hambleton explained. "It gave our students a wonderful chance to get involved in service and culinary education while helping out in their community.” It’s also a special connection: La Soupe was founded by Suzy DeYoung, a Cardinal Pacelli alum, Hambleton noted.

Proper knife technique is taught to the Seventh-Grade students at Cardinal Pacelli.

Students receive plenty of hands-on learning through this partnership. Sixth graders collect donations while eighth graders help pack and load donations into the La Soupe van. Second graders get busy in the kitchen, cooking up dishes like lasagna soupe as part of the Give A Crock program, and the seventh graders head to La Soupe for weekly lessons, working with professional chefs to sharpen their culinary skills. Students also play an active role in each step: designing informative signs, organizing donations, touring La Soupe’s facility—even creating a video to share with their classmates about their visit.

Since the start of this partnership, Cardinal Pacelli has proudly donated 6,660 canned food items to the Give A Crock program and raised money through an annual raffle. Students eagerly participate by buying tickets with their own money or earning funds through household chores. To keep the excitement going, there's a friendly homeroom competition: the class with the most donations wins a silly flag and trophy for the day, and the overall winner gets their name engraved on a trophy and an ice cream social.

Ann Hambleton and ann Murray pose with a check delivered to La Soupe to help fund the Give a crock program.

"Every dollar raised goes directly to La Soupe," Hambleton emphasized. "But what’s truly special is the life lessons the kids learn through all of this. They get to learn about the people La Soupe serves, whether it’s neighbors, classmates in need, or seniors relying on Meals on Wheels." Some families have even taken their involvement a step further by shadowing La Soupe volunteers during meal deliveries.

“We wanted this to be more than just about collecting canned goods,” Hambleton explained. “Our goal is to create a lasting impact, with students playing an active role in making a real difference.”