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Annual Souper Bowl Raises Funds for W&L’s Backpack Program This year’s event raised more than $10,000 to support the Campus Kitchen’s hunger-fighting project.

By Emily Innes
February 5, 2025

The 13th annual Campus Kitchen Souperbowl in Evans Dining Hall
Hannah Bishop ’28, Chloe Shiue ’28 and Reese Nelson ’28 at the 13th annual Campus Kitchen Souperbowl in Evans Dining Hall.
Jayden Pautz ’28 and Leon Tong ’28 serve soup to Lizzy Nguyen ’25 and Alexis Park ’25 at the 13th annual Campus Kitchen Souperbowl in Evans Dining Hall.
Students come together to enjoy soup from local restaurants and organizations at the 13th annual Campus Kitchen Souperbowl in Evans Dining Hall.
Iris Westerman ’28 and Hayden Kirby ’28 at the 13th annual Campus Kitchen Souperbowl in Evans Dining Hall
Sam Hellstern ’28 and Emma Batty ’28 serve Brady Madden ’26 at the 13th annual Campus Kitchen Souperbowl in Evans Dining Hall.

Washington and Lee University’s Campus Kitchen (CKWL) and community members helped tackle childhood hunger in Rockbridge County in early February with its annual Souper Bowl event. This year’s Souper Bowl raised more than $10,000 to support the Campus Kitchen at W&L’s Backpack Program.

“Thank you to all of our participating restaurants, caterers, sponsors and everyone who supported the Campus Kitchen Souper Bowl this year,” said Ryan Brink ’18, assistant director of the Shepherd Program and CKWL coordinator. “Once again this event provided a unique opportunity for a wide swath of the Lexington-Rockbridge community to come together with W&L students in support of a critical food relief program in our area. We at Campus Kitchen are incredibly grateful for that continued support and can’t wait to see what the future holds for both the Souper Bowl and the Backpack Program it helps to fund.”

The Feb. 2 event featured 24 local soup creations from 21 participating restaurants, caterers and community organizations, and many were made with locally sourced ingredients. This year’s Souper Bowl participants included Bistro on Main, Campus Kitchen, CHEFS Catering Company, Full Circle Catering, Globowl Café, Hardens, Heliotrope Brewery, Legendary Eats, the Lexington Farmers Market, Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, Pronto, Pure Eats, the Rockbridge Jewish Community, Season’s Yield Bakery and Café, Sweet Treats Bakery, The Georges, the Family Nutrition Program at Virginia Cooperative Extension and W&L Dining Services. The event was also sponsored by Charles W. Barger and Son. Musical performances by W&L a capella groups Jubilee and General Admission helped make it a memorable occasion for the nearly 500 people who attended.

Liv Ullmann ’25 currently serves as a co-chair of Campus Kitchen’s Finance and Fundraising Committee and helped with the coordination and promotion of this year’s Souper Bowl. She worked with her committee to reach out to local businesses about participating in the event and managed the student volunteers and music group performances.

“We were certainly only a piece of the puzzle that made this event possible and we are so grateful to the W&L and Rockbridge communities that came out to join us in celebration of good soup and nutritional support services for our local youth,” Ullmann said.

If you missed this year’s event, you can still make contributions online to support the Campus Kitchen at W&L’s Backpack Program and help them reach their goal of $11,000.

Since 2009, the CKWL Backpack Program has provided non-perishable breakfast, lunch and snack items to children receiving free and reduced lunch in schools throughout Rockbridge County. The program currently delivers 850 backpacks each week to preschoolers, elementary school students and middle school students in the local school districts.