Community stirs-up support for 25th annual Stone Soup dinner

SEICAA announced Monday this would be its last time hosting its annual Stone Soup dinner and fundraiser.

After 25 years, the organization will pass the torch on to the Bannock Civitans to head the fundraiser.

SEICAA representatives said the recent partial government shutdown has made it difficult for the organization to maintain certain resources open and available to keep hosting this event.

Event coordinator and SEICAA representative Shantay Miner said this event raises money to help people in needin becoming more self-sufficient.

“They are still needing that little bit of a hand up to become that big circle of self-sufficiency where they can afford to do it on their own,” Miner said.

Miner said SEICAA is seeing the number of people thatneed this assistance rising.

“The need just gets greater. There’s a greater need for food, clothing, hygiene…”

Chartwells Executive Chef Chad Urban has been partnering with SEICAA for years with the Meals on Wheels program. He said he has seen the number of people that needhelp grow by more than 60 within the past few months.

“Not everybody out there has enough money to eat, so this is a way to make sure we feed them one good meal a day to keep them going,” Urban said.

Chartwells is one of the 12 sponsors that donated soup for Monday’s fundraiser.

Miner said they usually raise about $8,000 at this event, and see up to 1,500 people in attendance.